Year: 1886

page_text: We, MARC BERRIER FONTAINE and DANIEL EDOUARD WIDMANN both of Toulon
in the Republic of France, Engineers do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
It often happens that it is necessary or advantageous to be able to control from
a distance the movements of machinery of various kinds, such, for instance, as the
steering gear of vessels, the starting, stopping and reversing gear of engines, gear
for training of guns, and the movements of other machines either single or multiple.
Our invention relates to hydraulic apparatus for this purpose. The apparatus
consists of two separate organs, the transmitter and the repeater which are very
similar in construction, and are connected by a small pipe capable of sustaining such
pressure as may have to be employed. In each case there is a piston or plunger
that works in a hydraulic cylinder and is loaded by a spring, and in the case of the
transmitter there is a set of supply and discharge valves by means of which the
piston is subjected to or relieved from pressure.
The valves of the transmitter are worked by a hand lever acting on them through
a differential lever such as is employed in many cases where the movement of a
piston has to cut off supply of the fluid that moves it, when it reaches a point in
its stroke corresponding to the position of the hand lever. Thus when the hand
lever is moved over one quarter, one half or any other portion of a graduated scale,
opening the valve to admit supply of fluid under pressure to the cylinder of the
transmitter, the piston of the transmitter is moved by the pressure in opposition to
the spring with which it is loaded, and when it attains the quarter, the half or other
portion of its stroke, it closes the supply valve and remains stationary until the
hand lever is moved again, either by farther supply of fluid to cause the piston to
move farther, or by discharge of fluid to allow it to make part or the whole of its
back stroke subject to the force of the spring. The piston of the repeater being
subject to the same pressure as that of the transmitter moves to a corresponding
extent, and by its movement it works differentially a set of valves for the hydraulic

page_text: cylinder of the gear to which it is applied, causing the piston or plunger, of that
hydraulic cylinder to perform a portion of its stroke corresponding with the move-
ment of the hand lever of the transmitter. Thus, for example if in the steering gear
of a vessel the tiller lever is moved by hydraulic pressure acting on a plunger which
bears against the tiller lever, then by means of a transmitter situated in any part
of the vessel and connected by a pipe with a repeater at the tiller, the movement
of the tiller is made to correspond with that of the hand lever of the transmitter
and thus the vessel can be steered from the bridge or other place without mechanical
connections such as chains or rods.

page_text: We, MARC BERRIER FONTAINE, and DANIEL EDWARD WIDMANN, both of Toulon
in the Republic of France, Engineers, 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 :-
It often happens that it is necessary or advantageous to be able to control. from
a distance the movements of machinery of various kinds, such, for instance, as the
steering gear of vessels, the starting, stopping and reversing gear of engines, gear
for training of guns, and the movements of other machines either single or multiple.
Our invention relates to hydraulic apparatus for this purpose. The apparatus
consists of two separate organs, the transmitter and the repeater which are very
similar in construction, and are connected by a small pipe capable of sustaining such
pressure as may have to be employed. In each case there is a piston or plunger
that works in a hydraulic cylinder and is loaded by a spring, and in the case of the
transmitter there is a set of supply and discharge valves by means of which the
piston is subjected to or relieved from pressure.
The valves of the transmitter are worked by a hand lever acting on them through
a differential lever such as is employed in many cases where the movement of a
piston has to cut off supply of the fluid that moves it, when it reaches a point in
its stroke corresponding to the position of the hand lever. Thus when the hand
lever is moved over one quarter, one half or any other portion of a graduated scale,
opening the valve to admit supply of fluid under pressure to the cylinder of the
transmitter, the piston of the transmitter is moved by the pressure in opposition to
the spring with which it is loaded, and when it attains the quarter, the half or other
portion of its stroke, it closes the supply valve and remains stationary until the
hand lever is moved again, either by farther supply of fluid to cause the piston
to move farther, or by discharge of fluid to allow it to make part or the whole of
its back stroke subject to the force of the spring. The piston of the repeater
being subject to the same pressure as that of the transmitter moves to a corre-
sponding extent, and by its movement it works differentially a set of valves for
the hydraulic cylinder of the gear to which it is applied, causing the piston or
plunger of that hydraulic cylinder to perform a portion of its stroke corresponding
with the movement of the band lever of the transmitter. Thus, for example, if, in
the steering gear of a vessel, the tiller lever is moved by hydraulic pressure acting
on a plunger which bears against the tiller lever, then by means of a transmitter
situated in any part of the vessel and connected by a pipe with a repeater at the
tiller, the movement of the tiller is made to correspond with that of the hand lever
of the transmitter and thus the vessel can be steered from the bridge or other place
without mechanical connections such as chains or rods.
Figs. 1 and 2 are front views, Figs. 3 and 4 are side views and Figs. 5 and 6 are
plans respectively of the transmitter and repeater according to this invention,
Figs. 7 and 8 are vertical sections and Figs. 9 and 10 are sectional plans of their
respective cylinders, Figs. 11 and 12 are sectional plans on XX, Figs. 3 and 4..
P and P' are the pistons and R R¹ are the springs, L is the hand lever of the

page_text: transmitter which, through the connections S T U transmits its movement to O to
which is linked the rod A that works the supply and discharge valves in the valve
box B. U is the differential lever of the repeater to which at O¹ is linked the
rod A¹ that works the valves in the box B¹. The local pressure supply and discharge
pipes are CD for the transmitter and C¹ D¹ for the repeater, E is the pipe com-
municating from the valve box B to the cylinder of the transmitter, E¹ is the pipe
for flow from or to the valve box B¹ of the repeater, F is the pipe communi-
cating through any distance between the cylinders of the transmitter and repeater.
Fig. 13 is a plan of hydraulic steering gear to the control of which is applied a
repeater worked as above described, Figs. 14 and 15 are transverse sections at Y Y
and Z Z respectively. G is the axis of the rudder, a lever H on which, is moved
by the plungers of the hydraulic cylinders I I. One of the plungers is embraced
by the fork of the differential lever U₁ of the repeater, and this lever acting through
the rod A' works the valves in the box B'.
In a similar way other hydraulic machinery may be governed by an arrangement
of transmitter and repeater such as is above described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
For controlling machinery at a distance, the combination of a hydraulic transmitter
and repeater arranged and operating substantially as herein described.
Dated this 26th day of October 1886.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants,
28, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C. 25