AN IMPROVED STEERING APPARATUS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Skinner, of Shadwell, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED STEERING
APPARATUS."
Sealed the 3rd January 1865, and dated the 7th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Skinner
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th July 1864.
I, HENRY EDWARD SKINNER, of Shadwell, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED STEERING APPARATUS," to be as follows (that is to say):-
My Invention has reference to an improved construction of steering
apparatus, in which the mechanical arrangement and disposition of the
working parts is greatly simplified, enabling the rudder to be brought round
with less manual labour and number of revolutions of the wheel than by the
system at present in use, and consists in mounting the steering wheel upon an
horizontal axis within suitable bearings upon an upright pillar, standard, or
column secured to the deck of the vessel, by the arrangement of which the
said wheel may be caused to communicate motion to the rudder through the
medium of a convoluted cylinder or slotted drum fitted to the rudder head
through the intervention of a socket nut furnished with projecting studs or
threads taking into the said convolutions, a double rack and pinion or chain
wheel movement in gear with the said axis on the rudder wheel being
employed for raising and lowering the nut, and thereby giving motion to the

page_text: cylinder in conjunction with the rudder, as aforesaid, the said nut being
provided with guide slots for maintaining the vertical movement of the same,
and secured to the racks or chains by stud bolts or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Edward Skinner in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARD SKINNER, of Shadwell, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Edward Skinner, Her special licence that I,
the said Henry Edward Skinner, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Edward Skinner, 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 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED STEERING APPARATUS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Edward Skinner, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their 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 I, the said Henry Edward Skinner, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and the Drawings therein referred to (that
is to say):
:-
My Invention has reference to an improved construction of steering
apparatus in which the mechanical arrangement and disposition of the
working parts thereof is greatly simplified, enabling the rudder to be brought

page_text: round with less manual labour and number of revolutions of the steering
wheel than by the system at present in use, and consists in mounting the
steering wheel upon a horizontal axis within fixed bearings upon an upright
pillar, standard, or.column secured to the deck of the vessel, by the arrange-
ment of which the said wheel is caused to communicate motion to the rudder
through the medium of a convoluted cylinder or slotted shaft fitted in con-
nection with the rudder head, a traversing nut or socket furnished with
projecting studs or threads taking into the said convolutions in connection with
a double chain and pinion motion in gear with the axis on the rudder wheel
being employed for raising and lowering the nut, and thereby giving motion
to the cylinder aforesaid in conjunction with the rudder, the said nut being
maintained in its vertical position by guide slots formed within the pillar
standard.
And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I now proceed to describe it 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 front elevation of my improved steering apparatus;
Fig. 2, a side view thereof, partly in section; Fig. 3, a top or plan view with
the cap or cover removed; Fig. 4, a horizontal section through the dotted
line in Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a detached portion of the nut, shewing the mode of
attaching the chain; Fig. 6, a transverse vertical section of the rudder head
coupling, separately shewn; and Figs. 7 and 8, plan views thereof. In each
Figure the same letters of reference denote similar corresponding parts.
A, A, standard column secured to the deck of the vessel A¹, to which the
steering wheel is attached; B, B, couplings connecting the rudder to the
steering apparatus; C, C, rudder head; D, D, tiller fitted to the rudder head
when required in case of emergency; E, E, convoluted barrel or shaft fixed
vertically within the outer case in connection with the rudder; F, F, con-
volutions formed therein; G, G, traversing nut or socket provided with oblique
grooves or threads taking into the convolutions on the barrel, by the vertical
action of which within the cylinder (in an upward and downward direction)
the said barrel is caused to rotate, and thereby communicate motion to the
rudder; H, H, bearings formed in the standard for the reception of the same;
J and J', guide and guide slots for maintaining the vertical action of the
nut; K, K, endless chain gear for giving motion to the nut; L, L, friction
rollers mounted within suitable fixed bearings enclosed within the case, upon
which the lower portion of the chain revolves; M, M, spiked wheels firmly
keyed to the steering axis from which the chain receives motion; N, N, steering

page_text: wheel; 0, 0, steering shaft or axis; P, P, bearings secured to the standard
in which the same revolves; R, R, cap or cover.
In conclusion to the foregoing description I would here breefly note that a
square nut and twisted bar, together with racks and pinions for giving
motion to the same, may be employed in lieu of the above, and I would
further note that the form and number of the convolutions may be varied
as required.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed and carried
into effect, I would have it clearly understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details herein-before set forth and described, as the same may
receive such other modifications as may be found necessary without departing
from the general principle of this my said Invention, nor do I claim as of my said
Invention.the exclusive use of the several parts and combinations herein-before
referred to, except when the same are employed in and for the purposes of
my said Invention, which I hereby déclare to consist in the general disposition
and arrangement of the several parts in connection with the mode of employing
the convoluted barrel, traversing nut, and chain gear for giving motion to the
rudder, in the manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Skinner, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
HENRY EDWARD SKINNER. (L.B.)
Witness,
J. W. GRAY,
Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon & Co.,
Law Chambers,
77, Chancery Lane.