Improvements in or applicable to Ships' Steering Gear.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 16th Oct., 1894-Accepted, 17th Nov., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or applicable to Ships' Steering Gear.
I, WILLIAM HORATIO HARFIELD, of Mansion House Buildings, Queen
Victoria Street, in the City of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows :-
My invention relates to ships' steering gear, and has for object to automatically
prevent what is known as the wheel “taking_charge," that is to say, the forcing
around of the steering wheel owing to the rudder being struck by the sea, whereby
the steersmen are frequently overpowered and unable to manage the wheel.
In a suitable arrangement for carrying out my invention I form the shaft
carrying the usual chain-wheel, barrel, or toothed driving pinion (which shaft may
be either the shaft of the steering wheel or a shaft driven thereby through suitable
gearing or the like) with a screw-thread and I internally screw-thread the said
chain-wheel, barrel, or toothed driving pinion to fit upon the screw-threaded shaft
so that it is capable of moving relatively with its shaft in a longitudinal direction.
At each end or face of such barrel, chain-wheel or pinion I loosely mount upon the
shaft a wheel or disc, such wheels or discs being acted upon by pawls or the like in
such a manner that one is capable of being rotated in one direction only and the
other in the reverse direction only, the said wheels or discs being held against
longitudinal movement upon the said shaft by suitable means such as by collars.
With this arrangement when the steering wheel is rotated the screw-threaded
shaft rotates independently of the barrel, chain-wheel or pinion whereby the latter
being slightly moved longitudinally on the shaft is caused to jam at one end or the
other, according to the direction in which the steering wheel is rotated, against the
adjacent pawl wheel or disc so that the continued rotation of the steering wheel
will cause the rotation of such wheel or disc, the wheel or disc at the opposite end
of the barrel, chain-wheel, or pinion remaining stationary under the action of its
pawl. Should a sea strike the rudder in such a manner as to tend to accelerate
the motion of the steering wheel, the barrel, chain-wheel, or driving pinion would be
rotated to a slight extent independently of the motion of the steering wheel whereby,
owing to the screw-thread, it would be caused to move away from the pawl wheel
or disc with which it was in contact and be jammed against the other wheel or disc,
its motion being thus arrested. Should the rudder however be struck by a sea so
as to tend to force it back against the direction in which it is being moved or held,
then the pawl wheel which is jammed will be kept from turning-back by its pawl
thereby relieving the steersmen.
Dated the 17th day of January 1894.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or applicable to Ships' Steering Gear.
I, WILLIAM Horatio HarfieELD, of Mansion House Buildings, Queen
Victoria Street, in the City of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
My invention relates to ships' steering gear, and has for object to automatically

page_text: prevent what is known as the wheel "taking charge," that is to say, the forcing
around of the steering wheel owing to the rudder being struck by the sea, whereby
the steersmen are frequently overpowered and unable to manage the wheel.
In a suitable arrangement for carrying out my invention I form the shaft or
spindle carrying the usual chain-wheel, barrel, or toothed driving pinion (which
shaft may be either the shaft of the steering wheel or a shaft driven thereby
through suitable gearing or the like) with a screw-thread, and I internally screw-
thread the said chain-wheel, barrel, or toothed driving pinion to fit upon the
screw-threaded shaft so that it is capable of moving relatively with the shaft in a
longitudinal direction. At each end or face of such barrel, chain-wheel or piuion
1 loosely mount upon the shaft a wheel or disc, such wheels or discs being acted
upon by pawls or the like in such a manner that one is capable of being rotated in
one direction only and the other in the reverse direction only, the said wheels or
discs being held against longitudinal movement upon the said shaft by suitable
means such as by collars.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :—
Figure 1 is an end view; and,
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of so much of a steering gear as is necessary to
illustrate my invention.
a, a are the standards or stanchions in which the spindle 6 carrying the chain-
barrel c is journalled, the said spindle being operated directly by the steering wheel
or wheels which in the drawings are indicated by the dotted lines at d, d but which
may be mounted upon a separate spindle geared with the spindle b. a¹, a' are
tie-bolts bracing the stanchions a, a together.
The spindle b is as hereinbefore stated provided with a screw-thread and the
chain-barrel c is correspondingly screw-threaded in such a manner that when the
chain-barrel and the spindle are rotated relatively with one another a slight
longitudinal movement will be imparted to the said chain-barrel upon the spindle.
e, fare the wheels or discs loosely mounted upon the spindle b, and h are gripping
pawls working in connection with the wheels e, f respectively, each of the said
pawls being so arranged as to prevent the rotation of the wheel with which it
engages in one direction but to allow of its rotation in the opposite direction.
These pawls are each pivotted between a pair of plates 4º, 4º which are flanged as
shewn in Figure 2 so as to be supported upon the flanges of the wheels or discs e, f
bolts h', holding the plates together. The tails or free ends of the pawls rest
upon the bolts a¹, a'.
i,jare collars which prevent the longitudinal movement of the wheels or discs e, f
upon the spindle b; the collar i, as shewn in Figure 2, being formed integral with
the spindle 6 whilst the collar j is represented as being screwed onto the said
spindle. These collars are at such a distance apart that the space between the
adjacent or opposite faces of the wheels e, f is slightly greater than the thickness
of the chain-barrel c. The collar jis, as shewo, prevented from unscrewing by
means of a set-pin & passed through it into the spindle b.
indicates the wheel-chain, and m, m are guide-pulleys over which the
chain runs.
The operation of the apparatus bereinbefore described is as follows: When the
steering wheels are rotated, say in the direction of the arrow, Figure 1, the spindle b
rotates independently of the chain-barrel c and thereby. moves the latter slightly
longitudinally whereby it is caused to jam against the wheel or disc e in such a
manner that the continued rotation of the steering wheels causes the rotation of the
chain-barrel, the pawl g allowing of the rotation of the disc e with the barrel. If
now the steering wheels be let go or if the rudder is struck by a sea which, with
ordinary apparatus would overpower the man or men and turn the steering wheels
in an opposite direction to that of the arrow, Figure 1, then the pawl g by gripping
against the surface of the wheel e prevents such backward rotation. If on the
other hand a sea which tends to move the steering wheel in the same direction as

page_text: that in which it is being turned strikes the rudder, then the chain-barrel c is rotated
upon
the spindle 6 independently of the said spindle until it jams against the surface
of the wheel when, owing to this wheelf being unable to turn in the direction of
the arrow, Figure 1 by reason of the engagement of the pawlh therewith, the
movement of the said barrel is arrested. If the steering wheels are moved in a
leverse direction to that of the arrow then a contrary but similar action to that
just described takes place, the jamming now being against the wheel and the
backward movement of the said wheel prevented by the pawl h.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In ships' steering gear mounting the chain-wheel or barrel or the toothed.
driving pinion in such a manner that it is capable of being moved slightly in a
longitudinal direction upon the spindle carrying it so as to cause it to jam against
one or the other of two wheels or discs also carried upon this spindle and acted
upon by pawls substantially as, and for the purposes, described.
2. In ships' steering gear the combination with the chain-wheel or barrel or the
toothed driving pinion, of pawls designed to hold the steering wheel or wheels
when let go by the steersman or men, or when the rudder is struck by a sea,
substantially as described.
3. The manufacture and use of ships' steering gear substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 16th der of October 1894
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.