IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING APPARATUS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Mac Sweney, of 25, Rood Lane, in the City
of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING APPARATUS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Mac Sweney
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition on the
8th November 1858.
I, THOMAS MAC SWENEY, of 25, Rood Lane, in the City of London, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING
APPARATUS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in steering apparatus. For
these purposes apparatus is arranged and applied to a rudder in such manner
as to give motion to the rudder by the friction of rolling surfaces. On the
head of the rudder a disc is fixed with a raised edge, the upper surface of
which inclines outwards. Above this disc is a second disc with a projecting
edge on the under side, the lower surface of which inclines outwards. These
lises are retained at a distance apart, but so as to admit of one being moved
towards the other and fixed nearer thereto, between these dises the spindle or
axis which receives motion from the steering wheel passes, and it has formed
or fixed thereon two cones which respectively act on the two discs, and the
two cones cach give motion to two cones which in their turn aid in giving

page_text: motion to the two discs, one pair of such cones acting on the upper disc, and
the other pair of such cones acting on the lower disc. The arrangement of
the conical rolling surfaces may be varied, but I believe the above to be the
best arrangement for the purpose. The degree of pressure of the rolling
surfaces on the discs may be varied and adjusted to any desired degree.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Mac Sweney in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
MAC SWENEY, of 25, Rood Lane, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Mac Sweney, Her special licence that 1, the said
Thomas Mac Sweuey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Mac Sweney, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING APPARATUS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Mac Sweney, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their bands 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 I, the said Thomas Mac Sweney, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists in transmitting motion to the rudder of ships and
vessels through cones or conical friction rollers made to act upon and drive

page_text: a disc or dises, or ring or rings, the surfaces of which are bevelled or made
conical at those parts where the rollers are to travel, and which are connected
to the rudder head, the conical rollers being themselves set in motion by a
shaft or spindle on which the steering wheel is keyed or otherwise fixed.
The manner in which I prefer to carry my Invention into effect is shewn in
the accompanying Drawings. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the steering
apparatus partly finished; Figure 2 is a view of part of the apparatus
detached; and Figure 3 represents the steering apparatus complete. R is the
rudder head; C is a stout wrought iron or other suitable metal ring, which I
prefer to a disc as being lighter. The upper surface of this ring is conical or
bevelled, the lower part of the incline being outwards, it is secured to the
rudder head through the plate A, formed in a piece with or connected to the
ring and bolts B, B; W is the steering wheel, and S the steering wheel
spindle, formed conical from a to b, where it comes in contact with and bears
upon the conical surface of the ring C; it is also conical from c to d, this latter
portion does not bear upon the ring but upon two friction cones or conical
rollers O, O, which are pressed against and upon the ring by the conical
portion c, d, of the spindle; 01, 01, are similar conical rollers placed upon
the conical portion of the spindles a, b; L, L, are links with eyes for receiving
the axes of the rollers after passing through the eyes; the axes are secured by
forelocks; c, c, are shoulders formed on the spindle to prevent the rollers
being driven outwards and off from the ring; C, Figure 2 is a ring, the under
surface of which is conical or bevelled to correspond to the bevel of the ring C,
and to that of the rollers 0, 0, 0, 0. This ring is placed with the conical
surface downwards, in the position shewn at Figure 3; holes d, d, are made
in the ring C, through which the threaded uprights P, P, rising from the
ring C, are passed, and the ring C' is secured by nuts e, c. It will be under-
stood that the lower part of the incline on the under surface of the ring C¹ is
inwards. On one side of its under surface the ring C rests upon and is in
contact with the two conical rollers O', O', while at the opposite side it bears
upon and is in contact with the conical part c, d, of the steering wheel spindle.
T, T, are uprights in which the spindle has its bearings, and although not
shewn in the Drawings, the bearings may be made free to move up and down
in the uprights to allow the rudder to rise upon any emergency.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I do not limit myself to
the arrangement of conical rollers and conical contact surfaces herein-before
described and represented, but I claim as my improvements in steering
apparatus, imparting motion to the rudders of ships and vessels through

page_text: conical friction rollers or conical shafts made to act upon bevelled or conical.
surfaces secured to the rudder head.
In witness whereof. I, the said Thomas Mac Sweney, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
THOMAS MAC SWENEY. (L.S.)