An Improved Device for Altering the Speed of Travel or Reversing or Stopping Screw Steamers having Adjustable or Feathering Propellers.
Year: 1898

page_text: An Improved Device for Altering the Speed of Travel or Reversing
or Stopping Screw Steamers having Adjustable or Feathering
Propellers.
T. HEINRICH BRINKMANN, of 12, Wörthstrasse, Munich, in the Empire of Ger-
many, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
follows:-
as
This invention relates to an arrangement or device for screw steamers having
adjustable or feathering propellers by means of which device a vessel can be
directed in any desired direction forwards or backwards by means of a reversing
lever on the upper deck. For this object a valve adapted to be operated by
pistons in small cylinders under the action of compressed air or the like is
inserted in the steam pipe between the ship's engine and the boiler, and a similar
arrangement of pistons and cylinders is arranged to operate the propeller feather-
ing mechanism and both sets of controlling or operating piston cylinders are
connected by pipes to a slide valve, the slide of which is adapted to be adjusted by
the said reversing lever.
The construction of this slide valve as well as the arrangement of the pipe con-
nections therefrom to the said operating devices of the steam valve and feathering
mechanism may be carried out in the most varied manner and six different forms
of construction will now be mentioned as examples-
The construction of slide valve and arrangement of the pipe connections to the
operating devices of the steam valve and of the propeller feathering or adjusting
mechanism may be such as to render possible the attainment of full speed ahead,
stop, and full speed backwards, by a simple movement of the reversing lever.
The first position of the lever to the right corresponds to full speed ahead, the
slide being in such a position as to admit compressed air to certain of the pipe
connections in order to fully open the steam valve and to adjust the propeller
blades into a forward position. If the lever be placed in the final or third posi-
tion the slide is shifted to open other pipe connections for an adjustment of the
steam valve and also of the propeller blades to the position for full steam back-
wards whilst the placing of the lever in the middle or second position shifts the
slide into such a position as to effect a closing of the steam valve and a full
feather or dead position of the blades.
The arrangement of the pipe connections may differ from the foregoing, the
full feather or dead position of the propeller blades being omitted so that the
movement of the reversing lever placing the slide in the middle position the
propeller blades will remain with the forward pitch and the steam valve be partly
closed, thus causing the ship's engine to run at a reduced speed and the vessel
to have a slow forward movement. The placing of the lever and thereby of the
slide into the one end position will then cause an adjustment of the steam valve
and also of the propeller blades in such a way as to produce full spead ahead and

page_text: the movement of the lever into the other end position will produce full speed
backwards of the vessel.
The arrangement may again differ from the foregoing by the reversing lever
being adapted to produce a slow backward movement. For this object the slide
and pipe connections are arranged in such a way that in addition to the already
mentioned directions of travel, that is, full speed ahead, slow speed ahead, and
full speed backwards, they may also be adjusted to a slow speed backwards. For
this object special ports for the admission of compressed air or the like to the
valve are arranged in the slide box.
By the arrangement of a circular or rotary slide or valve with five passages in
the slide box (of which one is for the discharge or exhaust), the functions of the
form of construction hereinbefore described may also be carried out and the steam
valve may also be simplified by being provided with one instead of two cylinders
for the compressed air.
In another arrangement of the device, in addition to the four movements of
the ship just described, a forward or backward movement of the ship under half
steam may be attained. Special outlet apertures are in this case arranged in the
slide box for the admission of air pressure to the controlling cylinders of the
steam valve.
The arrangement may also be such that a suitable distribution of the medium
of pressure for adjusting the steam valve and also the propeller blades for the
different kinds of travel may be effected by means of two slide boxes, the slides
of which may be operated by means of a single reversing lever.
In this case the supply pipes to the steam valve and also those to the cylinder
of the mechanism for reversing or feathering the propeller blades are separately
connected with one of the two slide boxes. The slides are mounted on a common
slide rod which is connected with the reversing lever as in the forms of construc-
tion previously described.
By placing the lever in one of the four positions, the two slides close in
common similar outlet apertures as was effected in the form of construction
described in the third example by the single slide so that hereby with an equal
position or similar position of the lever an adjustment of the vessel into the same
direction of travel takes place as was the case in the third example described.
Dated this 24th day of February 1898.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.
An Improved Device for Altering the Speed of Travel or Reversing
or Stopping Screw Steamers having Aojustable or Feathering
Propellers.
I, HEINRICH BRINKMANN, of 12, Wörthstrasse, Munich, in the Empire of Ger-
many, 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 relates to an arrangement or device for screw steamers having
adjustable or feathering propellers by means of which device a vessel can be
directed in any desired direction at various speeds forwards or backwards or caused
to proceed at half speed by means of a reversing lever on the upper deck in
contrast to some arrangements at present employed where it is only possible to

page_text: adjust the propeller blades for a forward or backward direction without regard
to the quantity of steam with which the engine acts on the blades. The present
invention however enables the propeller blades to be adjusted and the speed of
the ship's engines to be altered by means of a common reversing lever. For this
object a valve adapted to be operated by pistons in small cylinders under the
action of compressed air or the like is inserted in the steam pipe between the
ship's engine and the boiler, and a similar arrangement of pistons and cylinders
is arranged to operate the propeller feathering mechanism and both sets of con-
trolling or operating piston cylinders are connected by pipes to a slide valve, the
slide of which is adapted to be adjusted by the said reversing lever.
In this apparatus air, steam or other suitable fluid may be employed as medium
of pressure.
:
The construction of this slide valve as well as the arrangement of the pipe con-
nections therefrom to the said operating devices of the steam valve and feathering
mechanism may be carried out in the most varied manner and seven different
forms of construction will now be mentioned as examples and shown in the accom-
panying drawings.
The mechanism for feathering the blades and that for transinitting the motion
of the pistons to said feathering mechanism do not form part of the present inven-
tion, but for this purpose mechanism such as that described in Patents Nos. 8673
and 8674 of 1896 is preferably employed, and to facilitate description I will now
describe such an arrangement which is shown in Figures 1 and 1ª and is con-
structed as follows;-
The ends of a double lever or beam 7 Figure 1, are pivotally connected with
the crossheads of the piston rods of the cylinders BB¹. This lever or
beam is pivoted at on a sliding collar m adjustably mounted on the ship's
main shaft n.
It will thus be seen that when the pistons of the two cylinders B B₁ are simul-
taneously driven in the same direction the beam will be carried by the cross-
heads parallel into one of its two endmost positions taking with it the sliding
collar m, but when the pistons are driven into opposite positions in the cylinders,
the beam will be placed angularly and the sliding collar will only be carried
into the mid-position by the pivot l, so that said sliding collar can be placed
any one of three positions.
11l
In the hollow part C of the ship's shaft n a second shaft o is revolubly mounted
which carries in the propeller boss (Figure 1) a bevel wheel p with which the
bevel wheels g of the spindles of the propeller blades gear so that when the
shaft o is revolved the propeller blades are suitable turned and adjusted.
In the hollow part C of the ship's shaft, the shaft o has a screw thread R on
which a nut s prevented from revolving is mounted, which nut is adjustable longi-
tudinally in the part C. By moving this nuts on the thread R the shaft o is
rotated and thereby the bevel wheels pq are operated to adjust the propeller
blades for forward or backward travel. The displacement of the nuts is effected
by means of two rods t which are connected with the before mentioned sliding
collar m, which is operated by the pistons and cylinders B B₁ as before described.
The construction shown in Figure 2 which will be first described is adapted for
full speed ahead, full speed astern and slow speed ahead. The reversing lever a
is shown in the position LV (slow speed ahead), the pressure being admitted to
the passage whilst the passage is connected with the discharge outlet
whereby the pistons in the cylinders B B are moved by means of the pressure and
exhaust pipes from said passages to bring the beam into the position shown.
A branch pipe 63 from the pipe 62 is connected with the cylinder D¹ of the steam
valve A, the piston of this valve receiving the pressure from above whilst a branch
pipe from the pipe discharges into said pipe d2 and thus under the slide h
so that the piston in the cylinder D₁ of the valve A closes the valve A. Figure 2.
The piston of the cylinder E of the valve A also receives pressure from above

page_text: through a passage a¹ and pipe a² whilst a pipe c² opening under the piston of the
cylinder E is connected with the outlet passage c¹ under the slide b, so that this
piston also closes the valve and the valve only admits steam (if steam be the
Huid employed) to the engine for a slow speed by means of an opening v,
Figure 24, in the valve plug.
If the lever a be placed in the position VV corresponding to full speed ahead,
only the passages a and c are changed; the passage cl receives the pressure
whilst the passage a¹ under the slide 6 is the outlet and the piston in the cylin-
der E opens the valve A so that the engine receives full steam. The opening of
the valve proceeds slowly because the pipe a² of the passage a is provided with
a back pressure valve similar to the valve shown in Figure 24, on the pipe .
If the reversing lever a be moved from the position VV (full speed ahead) to
the position VR (full speed astern) the various passages are changed; the pas-
sages a¹ and d¹ receive the pressure whilst b and c become outlets under the
slide b; the pistons in the cylinders B and B are moved by the inflow from d
through pipe into the opposite position in which the beam and sliding collar m
i
lie at the opposite end-most position to that shown and the propeller blades are
adjusted to a backward pitch. The piston in the cylinder E of the valve A
shuts the valve by means of the inflow from a through the pipe 2 whilst the
pressure under the piston is exhausted through and c¹ and escapes under the
slide b. On the other hand 'the piston in the cylinder D' again opens the valve
because the passage d' and pipes are under pressure whilst the passage bi
and pipes 23 are discharged under slide b. The opening proceeds slowly in
this case also because the pipe 63 is provided with a back pressure valve r
(Figure 2) which allows the steam to flow in quickly but only slowly to escape.
In this position of the lever, the ship with a full steam supply is brought to stop-
ping and backing. It is not difficult to see that the engine will again work
slowly with forward pitched propeller blades when the reversing lever a is again
placed in the middle position LV.
The arrangement hereinbefore described thus renders possible 3 positions of
travel, namely, full speed ahead, slow speed ahead, and full speed astern. The
form of construction shown in Figure 1 like Figure 2 is applicable for full speed
ahead, slow and full speed astern with the exception that in the position of the
lever at "slow" the blades are adjusted between the forward and backward pitch
instead of remaining at the forward pitch. In Figure 1 the reversing lever a
and slide are shown in the position VV for full speed ahead. In this position
of the lever the passages b₁ and c¹ and pipes 62 c are under pressure so that the
pistons in the cylinders BB are pushed to carry the beam and sliding
collar m into the position shown in which the blades of the propeller are adjusted
to the forward pitch. The pressure in the branch pipe c³ connected with the
cylinder D¹ of the valve A enters under the piston of this cylinder whilst the
pressure in the branch pipe a³ of said cylinder escapes through pipe a² and pas-
sage a¹ under the slide 6 so that the piston in this cylinder D₁ opens the valve A
and the engine receives a full supply of steam with the propeller blades adjusted
for forward travelling, Figure 1. If the lever a be placed at VR (full speed
astern) all the passages change functions; the passages and 1 become outlets
under the slide whilst the passages a¹ and pipes a² and are placed under
air pressure so that the pistons in the cylinders B B are pushed in the opposite
direction and the propeller blades adjusted to a backward pitch. By the reliev-
ing of the passage the air pressure also escapes from the cylinder D¹ of the
valve A under the piston through the pipes cc and passage c¹, whilst the pres-
sure enters through the pipe a³ in the upper part of this cylinder D¹ and sud-
denly closes the valve; as however the pipe 63 is also simultaneously relieved, and
as pressure flows in through under the piston of the cylinder E of the valve A.
the piston in said cylinder E again opens the valve so the engine acts with full
steam admission with the propeller blades adjusted to the backward pitch. Back

page_text: pressure valves r of the kind already described which prevent a sudden opening
of the valve A are arranged in the two branch pipes a³ 63 of the cylinders Di
and E (Figure. 1).
Finally, if the lever a be placed at L in the middle position for slow speed,
the passages a¹ and 61 become under pressure and the passages c¹ and d¹ become
outlets under the slide b. The pipe as pressure pipe and the pipe as outlet
move the piston in the cylinder B to bring the crosshead into the position
shown and the piston in the cylinder E of the valve A closes the latter because
it receives pressure from above by the pipe which branches from 2, whilst the
pipe which branches from d² is the outlet or discharge. The pipe a² as pres-
sure pipe and the pipe as discharge move the piston of the cylinder B in the
opposite direction to that of the piston in the cylinder B₁ so as to bring the cross-
head into the opposite position to the one shown so that the beam 7 lies angu-
larly with its pivot and collar m in mid position and the propeller blades are
thus placed in the middle between the forwards and backwards pitch.
pipe a³ as pressure pipe and pipe 3 as discharge pipe push the piston in the
cylinder of the valve A down so that also this cylinder D¹ maintains the valve
closed and the valve admits steam to the engine for a slow speed only through a
central bore v, Figure 1, so that the movement of the vessel is "slow" with the
propeller blades placed in a central position.
The
The form of construction shown in Figure 3 with one slide b and the modification
shown in Figure 6 with two slides b and c differ from the ones herein before
described by the reversing lever being capable of being set for going slowly back-
wards (slowly astern). The reversing lever in each example stands at slowly
forwards LV, the passage and pipe 62 are under pressure whilst the pipe ²
and passage e¹ under the slide 6 are connected with the discharge whereby, the
pistons in the cylinders B and B are adjusted to a forward movement of the pro-
peller blades. The passage a¹ and pipe a² are also under pressure whilst the
pipe and passage are placed in discharge under the slide 6 so that the piston
in the cylinder E of the valve A closes the valve A, Figure 3. The passage fl
and pipe fare also under pressure and the pipe and passage c¹ are in discharge
under the slide b so that the piston in the cylinder D¹ also closes the valve. The
valve plug rests on its seat and allows as much steam to pass through a central
bore v, Figure 34, as the engine requires for a slow speed.
By shifting the lever a to V V, full speed ahead the passage c¹ and pipe c² are
placed under pressure and the pipe f2 and passage f¹ under the slide 6 so that
the piston in the cylinder D¹ opens the valve and the engine receives a full charge.
As the other passages are subjected to no change of pressure the positions remain
unchanged and the engine acts with full steam in the forward direction of travel.
If the lever a be first again placed in the position LV shown in the drawings
and then pushed forward to LR which is the position for slow speed astern the
passages b¹ and e¹ change functions, the latter becoming the inlet, whilst b¹ under
the slide 6 is connected with the discharge so that the pistons in the cylinders B B¹
are reversed (or adjusted for backward travel) and as the other passages undergo
no change the engine remains travelling at a slow speed and acts on blades adjusted
to a backward pitch.
If the lever a be then further moved to VR (full speed astern) the passages a¹
and change functions, the passage d' becoming the inlet and the passage a¹ the
discharge, so that then the piston in cylinder E of the valve opens the latter under
the action of the pipes d² a² and allows a full charge of steam to pass for causing
the ship to travel astern. The pipes f2 and a² from the passages f¹ and a¹ are
also in this arrangement provided with back pressure valves (Figure 3) in order
to prevent a sudden opening of the admission valve.
By the arrangement of a slide valve case D with 5 passages a²bc¹ d¹ and n¹ in
which a circular slide is turned on its own axis as in the modification shown in
Figure 4, the functions of the forms of construction shown in Figures 3 and 6

page_text: may be carried out whilst simplifying the admission valve A which is here
(Figure 4) provided with one instead of two cylinders.
The slide is shown in section in such a way that it is possible to look from above
into its hollow chamber. The slide box is also shown in section under the cover
flange or that the slide is shown lying on the slide plate.
The slide b is moved on its axis by means of the reversing lever a and the latter
stands at LV, the position for slow speed ahead in which the passages b' and c¹
are inlets and and a¹ are connected under the slide with the common discharge
passagen (arranged in the centre of the slide plate). The pressure passes through
the passage c¹ and pipe e into the cylinders BB₁ whilst the pipe a² and passage al
beneath the slide are in discharge so that the pressure in the pipe brings the
pistons of the cylinders B B' and thereby also the propeller blades into the for-
ward position. The pressure also passes through the passage and pipe b³ into
the top of the cylinder D' of the supply valve A and closes the valve (Figure 4*)
whilst the pipe and passage under the slide connects with the discharge n
so that the valve is shut and only allows steam for a slow travel of the engine
to enter the plug cover through the small bore v, see Figure 4*. -
If the lever be moved to VV, full steam ahead, the passage b¹ of the pipe
comes under the slide whilst that of the pipe d² leaves the hollow chamber of the
valve and communicates with the pressure chamber so that the piston in cylinder 1)¹
of the valve A opens the said valve and allows a full charge of steam to reach
the engine for full speed ahead. As during this movement of the lever the pas-
sage a remains under the slide and the passage c¹ remains in communication with
the pressure chamber the positions of the pistons in the cylinders B B¹ do not alter
so that the engine works at full speed with a forward pitch of the propeller blades.
If lever a again assumes the position shown in Figure 4 and then be displaced
to the position LR (slow speed astern) the passage c¹ of the pipe will connect
with the hollow chamber of the slide whilst the passage a¹ of the pipe 3 will con-
nect with the pressure chamber so that the pistons in the cylinders B B in con-
sequence of the admission of pressure through the pipe a2 are pushed in the
opposite direction and produce a backward pitch of the propeller blades. During
this movement of the lever a the passage of the pipe de remains in connection
with the hollow chamber of the slide and the passage b¹ of the pipe 62 with the
pressure chamber so that the piston in the cylinder D' of the valve A holds the
latter valve closed and allows steam for slow speed astern to pass through the small
bore v, Figure 4^, in the ordinary way.
If the lever a be further moved from the position LR to VR, full speed astern,
the passage 6 of the pipe 62 passes under the slide whilst the passage of pipe da
leaves the hollow chamber of the slide and connects with the pressure chamber
so that the piston in the cylinder D¹ of the valve A opens the said valve and the
engine receives full steam for full speed. As during this lever movement the
passage remains under the slide and the passage e in communication with the
pressure chamber, the pistons of the cylinders BB do not alter their positions so
that the engine works with a backward pitch of the propeller blades.
If the lever a be again returned to the position shown in the drawing and then
moved from this position to LR (slow speed astern) the passage c of the pipe c
connects with the hollow chamber of the slide whilst the passage al of the pipe a
is placed in communication with the pressure chamber whereby the pistons of
the cylinders BB' in consequence of the inflow of pressure through a² are moved
into the opposite position and produce a backward pitch of the blades. In this
movement of the lever a the passage d' of the pipe da remains in communication
with the hollow chamber of the slide and the passage 6 of the pipe 2 in com-
munication with the pressure chamber, so that the piston of the cylinder D¹ of the
valve A holds the valve closed and admits steam for slow speed astern to the
engine through the bore v, Figure 4, in the ordinary way.
A further displacement of the lever a from the position LR to VR, full steam
astern allows it easily to be seen that then the passage d' and pipe d² will connect with
the pressure chamber whilst the passage b' of the pipe 63 connects with the hollow

page_text: chamber of the slide (in connection with which in the drawing the passage d'
of the pipe is shown). The passages of the pipes and d³ thus change
functions, the pipe de becoming the inlet and 62 the outlet, the valve A is opened
by the piston of the cylinder D so that the engine receives a full supply of steam
with a backward pitch of the blades. In this arrangement only the pipe is
provided with a back pressure valve r in order to keep the engine throttled during
the transfer from full speed to full speed. This arrangement without doubt meets
all the pincipal requirements but in order to operate from the deck the various
movements to be executed by the engine an arrangement is shown in Figure 5
which admits of half speed adjustments being taken into account.
In this figure the slide has the reversing lever also placed at LV, slow speed
ahead in order to allow of the arrangement being better understood. The pas-
sage of the pipe is under pressure whilst the opposite passage al of the
pipe a is under the slide and under discharge, by which means the pistons of
the cylinders BB' are adjusted to bring the beam and collar m into the position
shown so that the blades have a forward pitch. The passages bc¹ of the pipes b²
and are also under pressure whilst the passages e¹ and fl of the pipes are
in discharge under the slide so that the pistons in the cylinders D and E of the
valve A close the said valve and the valve plug admits steam for a slow speed to
the engine through the ordinary bore (Figure 5) in the plug cover.
lever a be moved to the position HV (half speed ahead) the passage e¹ of the pipe
comes under pressure whilst the passage bi of the pipe 6 is connected with the
hollow chamber of the slide so that the cylinder D of the valve A half opens
the valve and thus admits half steam pressure to the engine.
If the
If the lever be still further moved to VV (full steam ahead) the passage fl
and pipe fare also placed under pressure whilst the passage el of the pipe is con-
nected with the hollow chamber of the slide, so that the cylinder E opens the
valve A. In this position both cylinders 1) and E have opened the valve A thus
admitting full steam to the engine and which acts with full power on the propeller
blades which have now a forward pitch because the passages d'a of the pipes
and a have been subjected to no change of pressure.
If the lever a be now moved
again to the position LV shown in the drawings and from thence on to the
position LR (slow speed astern) the passage d' of the pipe is placed in com-
munication with the hollow chamber of the slide whilst the passage of the pipe a²
is placed under pressure whereby the pistons in the cylinders BB are brought
into the opposite position and produce a backward pitch of the blades. The
passages and with their pipes b² ² remain under pressure, whilst the
pipes and their passages f₁ and e¹, in communication with the hollow
chamber of the slide, connect with the discharge passage n¹ so that the pistons of
the cylinders D and E of the supply valve A also in this position hold said
valve closed so that the engine receives steam for slow speed with backward pitched
propeller blades.
If the lever a be then further moved to HR (half speed astern) the passage f¹
of the pipe f2 comes under pressure, whilst the hollow chamber of the slide dis-
charges the passage el and pipe so that the cylinder E half opens the valve A
and the engine again receives steam for half speed with backward pitched pro-
peller blades, because the passage d' of the pipe remains in communication with
the hollow chamber of the slide and the passage a¹ of the pipe a² remains under
pressure. If finally the lever a be moved on to VR (full speed astern) as may
easily be seen the passage el of the pipe e also comes under pressure, whilst the
opposite passage of the pipe 62 is placed in communication with the hollow
chamber of the slide so that the cylinder D' also of the valve A opens the latter and
the engine then receives steam for full speed with backward pitched propeller
blades. In this position of the lever the passages f¹el and a are placed under
pressure whilst the passages b and c are discharged by the hollow chamber
of the slide.
In this arrangement also back pressure valves are arranged in the pipes be
and Ficure 541 to allow of the lover being marad night ounce from 17 17 17 D

page_text: In the form of construction shown in Figures 2 and 24 the cylinders D' E
have so much play that each alone opens fully the valve, in the modification shown
in Figures 5 and 5 however each of the cylinders DE has only sufficient play
to half open the valve and thus the full opening of the valve A can only take place
on the operating of the second cylinder.
Figures 7 and 8 show a modification with two slide valve casings and two
reversing levers.
steam
In the drawing the levers a ao connected with the slides b and 60 are arranged
for going ahead, the pipe of the passage d' has opened the valve A so that the
engine receives full
and also the pipe
of the passage cl
has moved the propeller blade adjusting mechanism to the forward pitch so that
by this position of the two levers full steam ahead" is produced.
""
If the lever a be moved backwards the throttle valve is closed and only allows
in the ordinary way so much charge to pass as is sufficient for a slow travel of
the engine whereby the position of "slow speed ahead" is produced. If the lever a
be also moved backwards the propeller blades are also adjusted to a backward pitch,
so that slow speed astern is produced because the valve A remains in its closed
position. If the speed is to be altered to full speed astern the lever a is again
moved forwards, thus causing the valve to again open. If it be afterwards desired
to move ahead the lever must then first be placed backwards in order to throttle
the engine and the propeller blades can then only be reversed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
An arrangement for adjusting to different speeds of travel and to a forward or
backward direction, screw steamers having propellers with adjustable or feathering
blades, characterised by the application of one or more slide valve casings with
slides and reversing levers in such a way that by means of compressed air or other
suitable fluid under pressure a supply valve provided with one or more pressure
cylinders may be operated from the deck to open or shut the steam pipe of the
ship's engine and similarly the propeller blades be adjusted to forward or backward
pitch, substantially as herein before described.
1
1000
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.