Improvements in Means for Steering and Manoeuvring Ships or Vessels.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 20th May, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 29th July, 1899-Accepted, 9th Sept.,
1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Steering and Manoeuvring Ships or
Vessels.
A communication by JEAN PIERRE SERVE, of Caluire et Cuire, near Lyons, in
the Republic of France, Manufacturer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both
in the County of Lancaster, 118, New Street, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, and 322, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:--
This invention has for its object an improved means for steering boats and
ships for displacing them parallel to their longitudinal axis and for effecting a
complete or partial turning to left or right within a very limited space. This
arrangement therefore very well replaces a rudder and in any case supplements
it very advantageously.
The invention consists in principle in arranging a propelling apparatus which
imparts to the vessel a movement, the direction of which is at right angles to
the longitudinal axis of the boat. It is evident in these conditions by arranging
apparatuses of this kind on one side and another to the transverse median plane
of the boat, and by imparting to these propelling apparatuses a movement in
opposite directions two forces will be created, the action of which will cause the
boat to turn on itself, and the action of the said forces will be the more
efficacious as their point of application is further removed from the transverse
median plane of the boat.
Two apparatuses of this kind installed, as will be hereinafter described, have a
more efficacious action but the effect of steering and veering may also be obtained
by arranging one of these apparatuses at a distance more or less from the centre
of the boat, and causing it to act alone or in combination with the propelling
apparatuses or even by combining the improved arrangement with that of a
rudder which may also be retained.
Preferably the invention is carried out by making use of two paddle wheels
arranged on one side and the other at a greater or less distance from the median
line of the ship.
As will be hereinafter described in greater detail, passages which are open
at their ends are formed perpendicularly to the longitudinal vertical plane of
the ship and are formed by water-tight partitions in such a way that the water
which flows through them, cannot penetrate the interior of the ship. The paddle
wheels are located in these passages with their axes parallel to the longitudinal
axis of the ship. The wheels, under these conditions impart to the ship a move-
ment in a direction perpendicular to its longitudinal axis and the effect of
which when they are revolved in opposite directions is to cause the boat to turn
on the spot if it is at a standstill or to modify more or less its direction if it is
moving. It is evident also that if the two wheels are caused to revolve in the

page_text: same direction the effect will be to move the boat parallel to its longitudinal
axis, whether the boat is stationary or moving.
In one form of construction a paddle wheel is mounted on a shaft which
passes through a water tight partition by means of stuffing boxes. The driving
shaft is supported by brackets or bearings located in the interior of the boat and
arranged according to the particular case. The driving of the driving shaft
may be arranged in any suitable way according to the usual arrangement of
marine engines. In any case the means for operating the shaft must allow of the
wheels being rotated in either direction.
A passage or channel preferably of rectangular section runs from one side
to the other of the ship and has at both ends openings formed in the side of the
ship. Doors serve for closing the openings. These doors may be manipulated
from the interior of the ship by means of the hinge which passes through the
partitions by means of stuffing boxes, but any other suitable method of opening
the doors which attains the same object may be employed.
The tight fitting partitions forming the walls of the passage are preferably
of sheet iron or steel and are held by angle irons, but they may be made of
any other suitable material, such as cast metal, wood or the like. The width of
the passage corresponds to the width of the paddle wheels, and it is sufficient
if its height be a little greater than that of the paddles of the wheel, in order
to diminish the application of the water, but the invention is not limited to this
height which may be increased or diminished or even made greater than the
diameter of the wheel.
The water which is contained in the interior of the drum and which receives
a rotary movement by reason of the drawing action of the paddles of the wheel
performs the office of a flywheel, and thus serves to ensure the regularity of the
working of the apparatus.
Valves are placed at the two ends of the passage, behind the doors, and serve
to close the passage in the same way as the doors, but hermetically so as to
allow of the wheel and the passage being visited from the interior of the boat
for repairs, cleaning, or the like by unrivetting or unbolting a portion of the
partition. These valves also serve to reduce the size of the passage and con-
sequently enable the extent of the deviation which the movement of the wheel
imparts to the ship to be regulated.
Gratings are arranged between the valves and the wheel in order to prevent
seaweed and other foreign matter from engaging in the floats of the wheel.
Instead of placing a single valve on each side, two may be employed, and the
grating placed between the two valves.
It is easy to see how the change of direction, a veering, or the transverse dis-
placement of the boat is obtained. The doors and valves being opened, the
wheel situated at the fore part of the vessel is given a movement in a contrary
direction to that of the wheel situated towards the stern of the boat, and the
forces developed acting in a contrary direction cause the movement of the vessel
to deviate from a straight line, or if the vessel is stationary, cause it to revolve
on its centre. In certain cases it will not be necessary to set both wheels in
movement. For instance, when the vessel is anchored or secured by one of its
ends, it may be caused to veer on the spot, by operating only one of the wheels.
It is evident that the action of a single one of the wheels while the vessel is
under way may be combined with the ordinary propelling apparatus of the
vessel in such a way as to modify the direction of the latter. The action of
one or both wheels may be combined with that of the rudder if the latter has
been retained, but it is understood that the improved system enables a rudder to
be dispensed with.
If, instead of causing one wheel to revolve in a direction contrary to that
of the other, both wheels be caused to revolve in the same direction, a displace-
ment of the boat parallel to its longitudinal axis will be obtained, which move-
ment may be combined with that which causes the boat to travel forwards and

page_text: backwards. The steering wheels may be placed at any suitable depth in the
vessel, but the nearer they are to the bottom of the hull the more efficaciously
they will act, the effect being better in denser water. Similarly the axis of the
wheels may be in the longitudinal median plane of the boat, or be placed to
the right or left of such plane.
The invention is not limited to the particular method of carrying out the same
which has been hereinbefore specified, but the following modified arrangements
may be used which secure the object proposed to be attained. The screw pro-
peller has already been employed for manoeuvring ships, but it is with quite
different arrangements.
Instead of forming the passage in a straight line, it may follow a curved
line for instance forming an arc of a circle, the centre of which coincides with
the centre of the boat. In this case a conical or tapering form should be given
to the wheel. The passage will of course be provided with the necessary bars,
gratings and valves."
Instead of the passage being made horizontally, it may have an inclined,
straight or curved arrangement.
The two arrangements hereinbefore described may be adopted if it be considered
that thereby the friction of the water on the walls of the passages will be
diminished.
The wheel instead of being encased in a passage extending across the ship may
be located entirely at the bottom of the ship and arranged in such a way that
the lower paddles of the wheel project beyond the bottom of the ship, the
remainder of the wheel being encased in a drum. As this arrangement may
cause injury to the paddles of the wheel when the vessel touches the bottom or
encounters rocks, the following arrangement is preferably employed where the
wheel is not made projecting beyond the bottom of the vessel. In order to fit
in with the drum in which the wheel is encased the walls of the ship are
inclined in order to facilitate the action of the paddles or floats on the water.
Bars or cross pieces are arranged beneath the wheel at a suitable distance
apart, in order to protect it and without in any way diminishing the action of
the wheel on the water.
Instead of wheels, propelling devices may be employed as screw propellers.
The axes of these propellers are parallel to the axis of the passage. The driving
is effected by bevel gear, the driving shaft passing through tight partitions
by means of stuffing boxes, as hereinbefore explained. In each passage two
screw propellers may be placed or only one propeller. The passages may of
course have the different shapes or forms as hereinbefore indicated for wheels.
A similar result may be attained by employing a screw propeller in the form
of an Archimedean screw. The shaft of this screw propeller is parallel with the
direction of the passage and rests in bearings installed in the interior of the
passage. The supports of the shafts and the bearings are arranged so as to
resist the thrust resulting from the action exerted by the screw. Rotation is
transmitted to this Archimedean screw by means of a cog wheel, the rim of
which encloses the spirals of the screw in such a way that the screw passes
through the interior of the toothed rim and serves to support the latter. Under
these conditions the toothed wheel does not prevent the action of the screw
on the water. The said toothed wheel gears with a pinion, the shaft of which
passes through the partitions by means of a tight joint and is operated from the
interior of the boat.
A chain carrying a series of floats may also be employed as steering apparatus.
Instead of floats, buckets on a chaplet may also be employed. The chain is
mounted on pulley having spikes or notches and the axes of which pass through
tight partitions by means of stuffing boxes. One or both shafts on which the
pulleys are mounted are operated from the interior of the boat and may be
revolved in one direction or the other. The openings are of the same width
as the paddles and a little greater in height. Under these conditions the floats

page_text: beneath the chain are those which act to move the boat, in fact, if the chain be
moved to the left, the reaction of the water on the float shifts the vessel to the
right and a movement in the reverse direction takes place with the chain turned
in the opposite direction. The water which fills the space in the passage above
the openings and is moved along by the floats forms a sort of fly-wheel.
As has been already hereinbefore indicated the wheels or other devices fulfilling
the same object may be operated by any suitable motor or any suitable system
of driving gear but one of the most convenient methods consists in actuating
them electrically by means of electric accumulators charged by dynamos actuated
by the propeller shaft of the ship or by independent engines. When the accumu-
lators are charged, the dynamos are stopped or utilised for some other service.
In this manner the accumulators are easily maintained in a condition for working
and thus the steering wheels may regularly operate on board mechanically
propelled ships. This arrangement has also the advantage that changes in the
direction of rotation of the wheels may be easily obtained by means of commu-
tators with an apparatus for changing the direction of travel as required, arranged
in similar manner to that employed for electric tramways. It is even easy to
regulate at will the speed of the wheels by causing the energy of the current
transmitted to the receivers which actuate the wheels to be varied.
It is of course understood that this method of transmitting the movement is
merely indicated as an example and that any other suitable method of trans-
mission may be employed.
Dated the 17th day of 1000
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Steering and Manoeuvring Ships or
Vessels.
A communication by JEAN PIERRE SERVE, of Caluire et Cuire, near Lyons, in
the Republic of France, Manufacturer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both
in the County of Lancaster, 118, New Street, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, and 322, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil 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:-
This invention has for its object an improved means for steering boats and
ships for displacing them parallel to their longitudinal axis and for effecting a
complete or partial turning to left or right within a very limited space. This
arrangement therefore very well replaces a rudder and in any case supplements
it very advantageously.
The invention consists in principle in arranging a propelling apparatus which
imparts to the vessel a movement, the direction of which is at right angles to
the longitudinal axis of the boat. It is evident in these conditions by arranging
apparatuses of this kind on one side and another of the transverse median pläne
of the boat, and by imparting to these propelling apparatuses a movement in
opposite directions, two forces will be created, the action of which will cause the
boat to turn on itself, and the action of the said forces will be the more

page_text: efficacious as their point of application is further removed from the transverse
median plane of the boat.
Two apparatuses of this kind installed, as will be hereinafter described, have a
more efficacious action but the effect of steering and veering may also be obtained
by arranging one of these apparatuses at a distance more or less from the centre
of the boat, and causing it to act alone or in combination with the propelling
apparatuses or even by combining the improved arrangement with that of a
rudder which may also be retained.
Preferably the invention is carried out by making use of two paddle wheels
arranged on one side and the other at a greater or less distance from the median
line of the ship.
As will be hereinafter described in greater detail, passages which are open
at their ends are formed perpendicularly to the longitudinal vertical plane of
the ship and are formed by water-tight partitions in such a way that the water
which flows through them cannot penetrate the interior of the ship. The paddle
wheels are located in these passages with their axes parallel to the longitudinal
axis of the ship. The wheels, under these conditions impart to the ship a move-
ment in a direction perpendicular to its longitudinal axis and the effect of
which when they are revolved in opposite directions is to cause the boat to turn
on the spot if it is at a standstill or to modify more or less its direction if it is
moving. It is evident also that if the two wheels are caused to revolve in the
same direction the effect will be to move the boat parallel to its longitudinal
axis, whether the boat is stationary or moving.
In the accompanying drawings:-
-
Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of a ship on the line -x of Figure 2
showing the arrangement of this device with steering wheels;
Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the broken line y-y of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a horizontal section showing the passage with a curved form
in plan view;
Figure 4 is a vertical section showing the passage having an inclined direction
in elevation;
Figure 5 is a transverse section showing the steering wheel arranged in the
bottom of the boat;
Figure 6 is a modification in the mode of arranging the steering wheel in the
bottom of the boat.
Referring to the drawings, 1 is a paddle wheel mounted on a shaft 2 which
passes through water tight partitions 3 by means of stuffing boxes 4. The
driving shaft 2 is supported by brackets or bearings located in the interior of
the boat and arranged according to the particular case. These brackets are not
shown in the drawings, and the same is the case with the mode of driving the
driving shaft 2 which may be arranged in any suitable way according to the usual
arrangement of marine engines. In any case the means for operating the shaft
must allow of the wheels being rotated in either direction.
A passage or channel 6 preferably of rectangular section runs from one side
to the other of the ship and has at both ends openings 7 formed in the side of
the ship. Doors 8 pivotting on a spindle 9 serve for closing the openings 7.
These doors may be manipulated from the interior of the ship by means of the
hinge 9 which passes through the partitions by means of stuffing boxes, but any
other suitable method of opening the doors which attains the same object may
be employed.
The tight fitting partitions 3 forming the walls of the passage are preferably
of sheet iron or steel and are held by angle irons, but they may be made of any
other suitable material, such as cast metal, wood or the like. The width of the
passage 6 corresponds to the width of the paddle wheels, and it is sufficient if
its height be a little greater than that of the paddles of the wheel, in order to
diminish the friction of the water, but the invention is not limited to this height
which may be increased or diminished or even made greater than the diameter

page_text: of the wheel. In the present instance shown in the drawings the partition assumes
the shape of a drum 5 in order to surround the upper part of the wheel.
The water which is contained in the interior of the drum 5 and which receives
a rotary movement by reason of the drawing action of the paddles of the wheel
performs the office of a flywheel, and thus serves to ensure the regularity of the
working of the apparatus.
Valves 11 are placed at the two ends of the passage, behind the doors 8, and
serve to close the passage in the same way as the doors 9 but hermetically so as
to allow of the wheel and the passage being visited from the interior of the boat
for repairs, cleaning, or the like by unrivetting or unbolting a portion of the
partition. These valves also serve to reduce the size of the passage 6 and
consequently enable the extent of the deviation which the movement of the wheel
imparts to the ship to be regulated.
Gratings 12 are arranged between the valves and the wheel in order to prevent
seaweed and other foreign matter from engaging in the floats of the wheel.
Instead of placing a single valve on each side, two may be employed, and the
grating placed between the two valves.
It is easy to see how the change of direction, a veering, or the transverse dis-
placement of the boat is obtained. The doors and valves being opened, the
wheel situated at the fore part of the vessel is given a movement in a contrary
direction to that of the wheel situated towards the stern of the boat, and the
forces developed acting in a contrary direction cause the movement of the vessel
to deviate from a straight line, or if the vessel is stationary, cause it to revolve
on its centre. In certain cases it will not be necessary to set both wheels in
movement. For instance, when the vessel is anchored or secured by one of its
ends, it may be caused to veer on the spot, by operating only one of the wheels.
It is evident that the action of a single one of the wheels while the vessel is
under way may be combined with the ordinary propelling apparatus of the
vessel in such a way as to modify the direction of the latter. The action of
one or both wheels may be combined with that of the rudder if the latter has
been retained, but it is understood that the improved system enables a rudder to
be dispensed with.
If, instead of causing one wheel to revolve in a direction contrary to that
of the other, both wheels be caused to revolve in the same direction, a displace-
ment of the boat parallel to its longitudinal axis will be obtained which move-
ment may be combined with that which causes the boat to travel forwards and
backwards. The steering wheels may be placed at any suitable depth in the
vessel, but the nearer they are to the bottom of the hull the more efficaciously
they will act, the effect being better in denser water. Similarly the axis of the
wheels may be in the longitudinal median plane of the boat, or be placed to
the right or left of such plane.
The invention is not limited to the particular method of carrying out the same
which has been hereinbefore specified, but various modifications in the details
of construction may be introduced in carrying the invention out in practice,
which modifications do not in any way alter the inventive idea in my system
for steering boats.
For instance instead of placing the shaft of the wheel horizontally as shown
in the drawings, I may place it vertically resting its lower end on a suitable foot-
step. Also to allow of access to the passage 6 or drum 5 I may arrange plugs
similar to those used for manholes in steam boilers.
Instead of forming the passage 6 in a straight line, it may follow a curved
line horizontally or vertically as desired. An example of this arrangement is
shown in Figures 3 and 4.
The wheel, as shown in Figure 5, instead of being encased in a passage
extending across the ship may be located entirely at the bottom of the ship and
arranged in such a way that the lower paddles of the wheel project beyond the
bottom of the ship, the remainder of the wheel being encased in a drum. As

page_text: this arrangement may cause injury to the paddles of the wheel when the vessel
touches the bottom or encounters rocks, the arrangement shown in Figure 6 is
preferably employed where the wheel is not made projecting beyond the bottom
of the vessel. In order to fit in with the drum 5 in which the wheel is encased,
the walls of the ship are inclined at 14 in order to facilitate the action of the
paddles or floats on the water. Bars or cross pieces 15 are arranged beneath the
wheel at a suitable distance apart, in order to protect it and without in any way
diminishing the action of the wheel on the water.
As has been already hereinbefore indicated the wheels may be operated by
any suitable motor or any suitable system of driving gear but one of the most
convenient methods consists in actuating them electrically by means of electric
accumulators charged by dynamos actuated by the propeller shaft of the ship or
by independent engines. When the accumulators are charged, the dynamos are
stopped or utilised for some other service. In this manner the accumulators are
easily maintained in a condition for working and thus the steering wheels may
regularly operate on board mechanically propelled ships. This arrangement has
also the advantage that changes in the direction of rotation of the wheels may
be easily obtained by means of commutators with an apparatus for changing
the direction of travel as required, arranged in similar manner to that employed
for electric tramways. It is even easy to regulate at will the speed of the
wheels by causing the energy of the current transmitted to the receivers which
actuate the wheels to be varied.
It is of course understood that this method of transmitting the movement is
merely indicated as an example and that any other suitable method of trans-
mission may be employed.
In the Provisional Specification I mentioned that in carrying out my invention
I might employ other devices, such as screw propellers, chain and bucket wheels
and the like but the experiments I have made and a closer study of the question
have led me to abandon these various arrangements and to adhere solely to the
method of steering and manoeuvring by means of paddle wheels.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. An improved system of steering and manoeuvring ships or vessels charac-
terized by paddle wheels being installed on one side or the other of the transverse
median plane of the vessel and having their axes parallel with the longitudinal
axis of the ship, said wheels being encased in tight passages almost perpendicular
to the longitudinal vertical median plane of the ship and opening at each side
of the ship, said passages being provided with movable doors for closing their
ends, valves arranged on both sides of the wheel for hermetically shutting off
the inflow of water to the wheel, and gratings for arresting sea weed and other
foreign bodies, the shafts of the wheels passing through the partitions by means
of stuffing boxes and operated from the interior of the ship in any suitable
manner in order to revolve them in one direction or the other substantially as
herein before set forth.
2. In a system of steering and manoeuvring ships or vessels the installation at
the bottom of the vessel of paddle wheels arranged as hereinbefore described,
said wheels being partially encased in a tight partition and protected beneath by
bars substantially as described.
Dated this 28th day of Tule. 1800