IM- PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS, STEAM BOATS, AND OTHER SAILING VESSELS
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Martin at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th May 1865.
I, JOHN MARTIN, of Railway Terrace, North Shields, in the County of
Northumberland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS, STEAM BOATS, AND OTHER SAILING
VESSELS," to be as follows:-
My first improvement consists in the application of a second barrel or pulley
to the axle or shaft of an ordinary steering apparatus; to this second barrel
or pulley I attach a set of chains or ropes by passing them round it; each
end of these chains or ropes is then passed round a pulley or barrel fixed
on each side of the ship's deck, and from thence brought back to the ordinary
tiller, and fastened to it in the usual way; the said barrel or pulley on each
side of the ship's deck is fitted into a moveable frame or carriage, sliding in
guides fixed to the deck. To this frame I fix a toothed rack, geared with
this rack, but fixed in an independant standard is a pinion or worm screw; on
the axle of this pinion or worm screw I fix a lever, under the control of the
steersman, so that by turning the pinion or worm screw motion is imparted to
the moveable frame through the rack, the chains or ropes being tightened or
slackened as the moveable frame is removed from or brought towards the
tiller. When the second set of chains or ropes are tightened they control the
steering apparatus as effectually as the first or ordinary chains or ropes attached
to the tiller; when slackened they cease to exercise any control. In calm

page_text: or fine weather I do not propose to use the second set of chains or ropes.
The advantages of this improvement are, first, that by having two sets of
chains or ropes attached to the tiller instead of one (as at present in ordinary
use) the steering apparatus is much firmer and the navigation of the vessel
less liable to be affected by the sudden shocks given to the rudder by the sea
striking it in rough weather; second, in case of damage to the ordinary chains
or ropes the second set can be brought into use at once without any delay or
danger to the navigation of the vessel.
In my second improvement I fix a drum or brake wheel upon the spindle
or axle of the ordinary steering wheel; around the drum or brake wheel I
pass an elastic band of metal or any suitable material, each end of this elastic
band I carry down towards the ship's deck, one end being secured to a
bolt or fastening in the deck, whilst the other end is attached to a moveable
lever, working in a joint fixed on deck, and standing about nine inches above
it. When the sea strikes the rudder with such violence as to deprive the
steersman of control over the steering wheel, by pressing his foot upon the
upper end of the said moveable lever the elastic band is pressed against the
drum or brake wheel until it stops the action of the steering wheel, and thus
enables the steersman to bring it again under control. Sometimes I attach
each end of the elastic band (after passing round the drum or brake wheel)
to a moveable lever, that is, an independant lever for each end of the band,
each lever being fixed in a joint on the deck of the vessel, and placed so that
the steersman can readily take hold of the levers, whilst standing by the
steering wheel.
When the violence of the sea renders the steering wheel un-
manageable, the steersman can let go of it and apply the elastic band to the
drum or brake wheel by means of the two levers to which it is connected, and
thus restrain the action of the steering apparatus.
:
My third improvement consists in an arrangement by which injury to the
rudder post is prevented when struck by a heavy sea; thus I fix to the deck
vertically, near the tiller, a strong jaw or pillar of iron, or any suitable
material; in this jaw or pillar, at right angles (by preference) I insert a strong
lever, moving on a pin, at any suitable distance from the end; on one end of
this lever I form or fix a clutch or catch, one side of which is bevelled or
inclined like a wedge, and the opposite side square or vertical; under the
other end of this said lever I fix a strong spring, one end of which rests upon
the ship's deck, whilst the other end presses against the end of the lever. On
the tiller I form or fix a clutch or catch similar to that on the lever, and
corresponding therewith, the two bevelled or inclined sides of the two clutches
being towards each other. The mode of action is this, when the rudder is

page_text: struck by a heavy sea, and thereby driven against the aforesaid lever, the
bevelled or inclined side of the clutch on the tiller strikes against that on the
lever, raising the clutch end of the lever and compressing the spring under
the opposite end, the clutch on the tiller being driven under the clutch on the
lever, the spring again raises the lever to its primary position; as the vertical
sides of the two clutches or catches are now opposed to each other, the tiller
is thus retained until means can be adopted to bring it again under control.
I sometimes, by preference, fix a second shaft under the ordinary tiller shaft;
on the ordinary shaft and on the second shaft I fix a spur wheel, connecting
them together by a pitched chain passing over them, the links of this chain
working in the teeth of the spur wheel on each shaft; to this second shaft I
attach a barrel or pulley, over which the second set of chains or ropes pass for
working the tiller, these chains or ropes being worked over pulleys fixed in a
moveable frame or carriage, as already described in my first improvement.
I sometimes prefer (instead of the moveable frame with rack and pinion, or
worm screw, for tightening the chains or ropes as described in my first im-
provement) a spur wheel fixed on the second barrel or pulley of the steering
wheel shaft; on the outside of this spur wheel I gear a clutch with teeth fitting
into the teeth of the spur wheel; to the clutch I attach a drum; around the
drum of the clutch I pass the chains or ropes; to this clutch I fix a lever for
moving it, then by turning the clutch round on the spur wheel it recedes from
or approaches the tiller, thereby tightening or slackening the chains or ropes
as may be required.