Im- PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING AND STEERING SHIPS, PARTLY APPLICABLE TO THE TRANSMISSION OF MOTIVE-POWER
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING AND STEERING SHIPS, PARTLY
APPLICABLE TO THE TRANSMISSION OF MOTIVE-POWER."-A communication
from abroad by Jean Pierre. Victor Le Rouge, of Paris, in the Empire
of France.
Sealed the 19th October 1866, and dated the 8th May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th May 1866.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING AND STEERING SHIPS, PARTLY
APPLICABLE TO THE TRANSMISSION OF MOTIVE-POWER," a communication to me
from abroad by Jean Pierre Victor Le Rouge, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar arrangement of screw propellers, and to
the mode of transmitting motion thereto, with a view to the steering or
manoeuvreing of ships as well as the propelling of the same.

page_text: Acccording to this Invention it is proposed to dispense with the ordinary
rudder and to substitute therefor a screw propeller which is capable of being
worked either in a line with the keel when the ship is required to be propelled
in that direction, or of being worked at right angles to the keel or at any inter-
mediate angle between a right angle and a direct line with the keel when it
is required to turn the ship more or less suddenly to one side or the other
of its onward course.
In carrying out this Invention in practice it is proposed according to one
arrangement to attach a hinged frame to the stern of the ship and to fit the
axis of the propeller, which is separate and distinct from the propeller shaft, in
the binged or movable portion of the frame. On the inner end of the axis
of the propeller there is keyed a bevel wheel which gears into a second bevel
wheel turning loose on a vertical shaft, which shaft serves as the steering
shaft, it being turned either by an ordinary tiller or by a steering wheel in
any well-known manner. This second wheel gears into a third bevel wheel
fast on the end of the propeller shaft of the engine. It will thus be seen that
the rotatory motion of the propeller shaft will be transmitted to the propeller
through the three bevel wheels above referred to, whether the propeller be in
.a line with or at an angle to the keel, according to the position of the moveable
frame. The frame is moved or turned to one side or the other by means of
the vertical shaft which is keyed to the moveable or binged portion of the
frame, so that the propeller can be made to operate in any desired position.
The working parts are lubricated by making an oil passage in the vertical
shaft, such passage communicating by other passages with the bearings of
the propeller.
According to a second arrangement it is proposed to employ only two
toothed wheels in lieu of three for transmitting motion to the propeller. For
this purpose two semispherical wheels are employed having teeth on their
rounded surfaces, one of such wheels being keyed on to the inner end of the
axis of the propeller, and the other keyed on to the outer end of the propeller
shaft. The curved surfaces of these wheels enable the axis of the propeller
to be turned to any desired angle without interfering with its gearing with
the other wheel. The moveable portion of the frame which carries the pro-
peller is connected above and below the gearing by radius links to the fixed
portion of the frame, the upper link being made fast to and turning with the
vertical or steering shaft, two pairs of toothed sectors, the one carried by the
moveable portion of the frame and the other by the fixed part, serving to
keep the semispherical gearing at the proper distance apart in whatever
position they may be turned. This system of semispherical gearing is

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN HENRY
JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING AND STRERING SHIPS, PARTLY.
APPLICABLE TO THE TRANSMISSION OF MOTIVE-POWER," a communication to me from
abroad by Jean Pierre Victor Le Rouge, of Paris, in the Empire of France,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar arrangement of screw propellers
and to the mode of transmitting motion thereto, with a view to the steering
or manœuvring of ships as well as the propelling of the same.
According to this Invention it is proposed to dispense with the ordinary
.
.

page_text: rudder, and to substitute therefor a screw propeller which is capable of being
worked either in a line with the keel when the ship is required to be propelled
in that direction, or of being worked at right angles to the keel or at any
intermediate angle between a right angle and a direct line with the keel when
it is required to turn the ship more or less suddenly to one side or the other
of its onward course.
In carrying out this Invention it is proposed according to one arrange-
ment to attach a hinged frame to the stern of the ship, and to fit the
axis of the propellor shaft in the hinged or moveable portion of the frame.
On the inner end of the axis of the propeller there is keyed a bevel
which which into a second bevel wheel turning loose on a vertical shaft,
which shaft serves as the steering shaft, it being turned either by an
This
ordinary tiller or by a steering wheel in any well-known manner.
second wheel into a third bevel wheel fast on the end of the propeller shaft
of the engine. It will thus be seen that the rotatory motion of the pro-
peller shaft will be transmitted to the propeller through the three bevel
wheels above referred to, whether the propeller be in a line with or at an
angle to the keel, according to the position of the moveable frame. The
frame is moved or turned to one side or the other by means of the vertical
shaft which is keyed to the moveable or binged portion of the frame, so that
the propeller can be made to operate in any desired position. The working
parts are lubricated by making an oil passage in the vertical shaft, such
passage communicating by other passages with the bearings of the propeller.
According to a second arrangement it is proposed to employ only two
toothed wheels in lieu of three for transmitting motion to the propeller. For
this purpose two hemispherical wheels are employed, having teeth on their
rounded surfaces, one of such wheels being keyed on to the inner end of the
axis of the propeller, and the other keyed on to the outer end of the propeller
shaft. The curved surfaces of these wheels enable the axis of the propeller
to be turned to any desired angle without interfering with its gearing with
the other wheel. The moveable portion of the frame which carries the pro-
peller is connected above and below the gearing by radius links to the fixed
portion of the frame, the upper link being made fast to and turning with the
vertical or steering shaft. Two pairs of toothed sectors, the one carried by
the moveable portion of the frame and the other by the fixed part, serve to
keep the hemispherical wheels or gearing at the proper distance apart in
whatever position they may be turned. This system of hemispherical gearing
is obviously equally applicable in all cases where rotatory motion is to be
emitted at on angle.

page_text: And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I
shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all
the Figures.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a longitudinal
vertical section of a portion of the stern of a vessel provided with one arrange-
ment of the improved steering and propelling mechanism, and Figure 2 is a
corresponding plan of the same, showing the screw in two positions.
A is the screw, the shaft of which is supported in the moveable frame B,
and is provided with a nitre wheel C at its inner extremity, into which gears
the mitre wheel D, which derives its motion from the third mitre wheel E
keyed on to the end of the prime mover shaft F. The wheels C and E are keyed
on their respective shafts and turn with them, but the wheel D is loose on the
vertical shaft G, which serves as a pivot or hinge pin to the moveable frame B
and rests at its lower end in a footstep bearing of hard wood. The vertical
shaft G which is rotated by a lever handle or otherwise is keyed or secured in
any convenient manner to the moveable frame B, so as to transmit to the said
frame and thence to the screw A and wheel C any rotatory motion which it
receives. This arrangement obviates all friction, inasmuch as the vertical
shaft does not continuously rotate in the hinge, but only turns when it is
The vertical shaft G is further pro-
required to vary the angle of the screw.
vided with an internal passage or channel a for holding lubricating material
and for supplying the same through other channels or passages shown in
dotted lines in the Drawings to those parts requiring to be lubricated.
Figures 3 and 4 represent respectively a sectional elevation and plan of another
modification of the present Invention, wherein only two geared wheels are
employed in lieu of three, thus rendering the mechanism more compact and
lighter. This modification comprises a novel form or construction of gearing
or coupling applicable to the transmission of rotatory motion at various angles.
This gearing consists of a pair of hemispherical toothed wheels geared together
with a view to the transmission of rotatory motion to a shaft capable of
assuming any position or angle during the time of its rotation even as in the
present application. II, I, represent two hemispherical cog wheels con-
structed according to this Invention, the one H being mounted upon the axis
of the screw A, and the other upon the extremity of the first motion shaft.
The moveable frame B is provided at the top and bottom with pivots or
journals which work in the upper and lower links L, M. The vertical shaft G
is keyed into the upper link L so as to transmit to it as well as to the frame

page_text: of the screw all the motions required. Two toothed sectors m, n, are fitted in
the interior of the frame above and below the hemispherical gearing to main-
tain them at the proper distance asunder and prevent any derangement or
disconnection of the gearing.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First, the peculiar arrangement and combination of screw moveable frame
and gearing, whereby the screw may be turned to any desired angle by means
of a vertical shaft without interfering with its rotation, as herein-before
described and illustrated by the Drawings.
Second, the mounting of a screw propeller in a hinged frame capable of
being turned to any desired angle by the spindle of the steering apparatus
which serves as the adjusting pivot of such frame, and rotating the said screw
by an arrangement of bevel or hemispherical gearing, substantially as herein-
before described.
Third, the construction and application of hemispherical gearing for the
purpose of transmitting rotatory motion to shafts capable of being placed at
any angle during their rotation, substantially as berein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six.