Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Mar., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 14th Dec.. 1894-Accepted, 14th Mar., 1895
1 CHARLES THEOPHILUS RAMSAY of 6, South Castle Street, Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
The invention relates to steam ships in which there is a screw propeller on each
side of the stern or stem, or in which each paddle wheel is operated by an
independent motor.
The main object is to allow of the ship being steered by the steersman varying
the speed of the main engines should the usual steering gear or rudder become
disabled.
The invention consists essentially in combining with the usual or any suitable
gear for controlling the speed of the main engines, connections by which such gear
can be operated by the steersman from the bridge or other convenient position.
The said connections are mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic, and are coupled to,
or disengaged from the said controlling gear by means of clutches or other suitable
appliances.
Under one modification a rotating shaft is used to give motion to speed regulating
gear of each engine; each rotating shaft is fitted with a bevel wheel capable of
being thrown into and out of gear with the said shaft by means of clutches. Both
clutches are coupled together and operated by one lever or handle. The two
aforesaid bevel wheels are in gear with bevel wheels on shafts which lead to the
bridge or other convenient steering position. The final or other convenient shaft
is geared to the shafts leading from the said speed controlling gear, so that as more
steam is admitted to one engine, less is admitted to the other. In this way the
speeds of the propellers may be varied and the ship steered.
Dated the 14th June 1894-
I CHARLES THEOPHILUS RAMSAY of 6 South Castle Street Liverpool in the
County of Lancaster, 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 :-
The invention relates to steam ships in which there is a screw propeller on each
side of the stern or stem or in which each paddle wheel is operated by an
independent motor.
The main object is to allow of the ship being steered by varying the
speed of the main engines if the usual steering gear or rudder should become
disabled

page_text: The invention .consists essentially in combining with the usual or any suitable
gear or apparatus for controlling the speed of the main engines, connections by
which such gear or apparatus can be operated by the steersman from the
bridge or other convenient position. The said connections are mechanical,
electrical, or hydraulic and are coupled to or disengaged from the said con-
trolling gear or apparatus when necessary by means of clutches or other suitable
appliances!
On the sheet of drawings herewith I have shown three arrangements of apparatus
suitable for use in carrying my invention into effect, but it will be obvious that
very numerous modifications thereof niay be made without departing from my
invention.
Figs. 1 and 2 are elevations at right angles to each other illustrative of a
mechanical system of connections suitable for use in steering by the main engines.
a are hand wheel shafts used for giving motion to the reversing gear of the pair
of engines, or for opening and closing steam supply valves to the said engines. The
said shafts a are fitted with bevel wheels b, which take into bevel wheels c on the
horizontal shafts d. The shafts d are in gear with the vertical shafts e by means
of bevel wheels. The said shafts e extend upwards from the engine room to any
convenient position, and are both geared to the shaft which carries or is in gear
with the steering wheel g. h are clutches ou the shafts a for causing the wheels /
to revolve with the said shafts a or to be free therefrom. i are levers for giving
motion to the said clutches and are actuated by hand wheel shafts ;. It is preferred
that the said levers i should be coupled by a cross spindle so that both engines may
be simultaneously thrown into or out of gear with the steering wheel g.
When the apparatus above described is in use both engines are set at about three
quarter speed and the clutches are caused to couple the wheels b to the shafts a.
When the steering wheel g is moved in one direction or the other, the reversing
gear or steam valve of each engine is operated in the reverse direction so that as
the speed of one engine increases the other decreases. In this way the action of
the propellers or paddle wheels as controlled by the steering wheel g will direct the
course of the ship or vessel. When it is not desired to control the engines by
means of the steering wheel, the wheels bare disconnected from the shaft a by
means of the clutch levers i.
મ
Fig. 3 is a plan, and Fig. 4 an elevation of a modification of apparatus in which
two steam supply valves k one for each engine, are each actuated by means of
hydraulic gear from separate steering wheels 9. Here the valves k are coupled to
piston rods in cylinder 1. Both ends of the said cylinders are coupled by pipes m
to both ends of cylinders 22. The pistons in the cylinders n are moved to and fro
by the steering wheels g which actuate the said pistons by means of screw or other
suitable gear.
o are indicators operated in any usual way by the flow of the liquid
in the pipes m so as to show at each end the positions of the valves k and con-
sequently the direction in which the engines are moving. Instead of hydraulic
gear to operate the valves and indicators, mechanical gear as previously described
or its equivalent may be used with one or two steering wheels.
Fig. 5 is an elevation illustrative of electrical appliances for use in steering by
the main engines. p, are positive and negative wires or leads from a continuous
current dynamo or battery, the said leads are connected to a commutator 9, of any
usual or suitable construction. From the said commutator, wires r lead to two
electro motors s. The said electro-motors have their shafts coupled each to the
reversing gear of one of the pair of engines. The steering wheel or handle 9, is
arranged to actuate the commutator so that a current may be sent from the dynamo
to give motion in one or other direction to the electro motors s, in any well known
manner. One electro-motor may actuate the reversing gear of both engines, in
which case the electro-motor would be coupled to a shaft such as f, Figs. 1 and 2,
and would be caused to rotate in one or other direction by any suitable or well
known reversing gear.

page_text: 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 :-
First. Steering steam ships by means of main engines substantially as herein set
forth.
Second. The combination of gear or apparatus for controlling the motions of a
pair of main engines with connections for inversely varying the speed of the said
engines for the purpose set forth.
Third. The combination of gear or apparatus for controlling the motions of a
pair of main engines with a steering wheel or steering wheels by means of mechanica!,
electrical or hydraulic connections for the purpose set forth.
Dated the 13th day of December 1894.
J. JOHNSON,
Agent.