IMPROVEMENTS IN COMMUNICATING BY SIGNALS BETWEEN THE PILOT AND STEERSMAN AND BETWEEN OTHER PARTS OF VESSELS BY MEANS OF DIAL APPARATUSES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry John Daniell, of Donington Park, in the
County of Derby, Colonel (late) Coldstream Guards, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COMMUNICATING BY SIGNALS BETWEEN THE PILOT AND
STEERSMAN AND BETWEEN OTHER PARTS OF VESSELS BY MEANS OF DIAL
APPARATUSES."
Sealed the 23th April 1858, and dated the 28th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry John Daniell, at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th October 1857.
I, HENRY JOHN DANIELL, of Donington Park, in the County of Derby,
Colonel (late) Coldstream Guards, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMMUNICATING BY SIGNALS BETWEEN THE
PILOT AND STEERSMAN AND BETWEEN OTHER PARTS OF VESSELS BY MEANS OF DIAL
APPARATUSES," to be as follows:-
I propose affording a ready and certain means of communication between
the look-out or pilot at the bow of a vessel and the steersman at the helm
(when by fog, cumbered deck, heavy weather, or other cause, the latter is
unable to see anything ahead or hear the voice of master or pilot,) by placing
a dial (on the rim of which the points of the compass are marked) and
indicator in the bow of the vessel, communicating by means of two chains,
wires, or cables with a similar dial plate and indicator at the stern of the
vessel immediately facing and beneath the eye of the steersman. On moving
the indicator on the bow dial to any point of the compass, the same point will
be instantly indicated on the stern dial, and there will consequently be no

page_text: difficulty even in the most boisterous weather in directing the steersman to
change the course of the vessel, and the collisions often, resulting from the
misapprehension of verbal orders entirely avoided. As the immediate increase
or diminution of speed materially affects the steering of vessels, I further
propose placing a dial and indicator on the bridge between the paddle-boxes,
communicating by a perpendicular shaft with a similar dial and indicator in
the engine room; these dials will display the words "go on," ease, half
speed, stop," or other, and on the master sounding an alarum attached to
the apparatus and moving the indicator on the deck dial, the attention of the
engincer will be instantly directed to the dial in the engine room, the indicator
on which will direct to the same word as that on deck, and any misunder-
standing of order by engineer rendered impossible.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry John Daniell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
JOHN DANIELL, of Donington Park, in the County of Derby, Colonel (late)
Coldstream Guards, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry John Daniell, Her special licence that I, the said Henry John
Daniell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry John Daniell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
COMMUNICATING BY SIGNALS BETWEEN THE PILOT AND STEERSMAN AND BETWEEN
OTHER PARTS OF VESSELS BY MEANS OF DIAL APPARATUSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry John Daniell, 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 is to be performed;
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters.
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry John Daniell, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
Figures and Diagrams marked thereon, similar letters of reference being placed.
upon and denoting similar parts at each of the Figures respectively.
The object of my Invention is to afford a ready and certain means of
communication between the look-out or pilot at the bow of a ship or other
vessel and the steersman at the helm, or between the master or pilot from the
bridge of paddle-wheel steamers and the steersman, or by a modified arrange-
ment with the engineer in the engine room. I term that part of my Invention.
which facilitates communication between look-out and steersman an "adjutant
helm."
It is well known that in foggy or heavy weather, or by reason of lumbered.
decks and other causes, the officer conning a ship cannot be seen or heard
by the steersman, and great difficulty is found in accurately transmitting signals;
the same may be said in the case of the person in charge of the course
of a paddle steamer, who, from the bridge, frequently finds considerable
difficulty in making known his wishes to the steersman or the engineer. In
the first instance as between look-out and steersman, this Invention provides
for working upright shafts furnished with indexes, working on or over dial
plates, such dial plates being marked "port," "starboard," and with other
necessary words. These dials (are placed) at the bow and at the stern of
vessels (and sometimes also in the centre or some other part of the ship that
may be convenient to the officer of the watch), the latter immediately before
or contiguous to the compass, so that the steerman's eye may travel over its
surface with facility. When the look-out, whether from the bow or on the
bridge, desires the steersman to port helm, he places the index of the dial at the
bow (or on the bridge) on the word "port," and by means of apparatus hereafter
described the index on the dial before the steersman points at once to the
same word "port." Similar in principle, but differing in detail, is the mode
of communicating between the captain and engineer. A dial for this purpose
is fixed on the bridge between the paddle boxes; a vertical rod passes down
into the engine room and is inserted into the centre of a dial (fixed in the position
the most convenient for the engineer to see its face); this shaft is furnished
both above and below with an indicator or index, so that when the pilot or
officer in charge desires the engine to be stopped, go casy, half speed, et

page_text: cetera, he causes the upper indicator to mark his wish on the upper dial, as
"stop," and the index will mark the same word on the dial in the engine
room. By these means there will be no difficulty in foggy or the most
boisterous weather in issuing the requisite orders, and collisions often result-
ing from misapprehension of orders as well as other mischances will be
avoided: It should be observed that by the use of this Invention, immediate
attention will be given to the directions of the pilot or other officer, and as
the deck or bridge dials (for communication between pilot and steersman) are
marked with divisional points, the pilot directs without stirring from the bow
or bridge the exact course in which he wishes the vessel to be steered.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING..
In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1 shews a longitudinal and vertical
section of a steam vessel with such parts of the apparatus fixed as can be seen
in that position of the vessel, the "adjutant helm " being worked both. from
the bow and from the bridge between the paddles. Figure 2 is a plan view
of the same, and here is seen the course of the rope or chain as it passes
from the bow or bridge dials to the stern dials, also (in dotted lines) a different
adjustment thereof, such rope or chain, or ropes or chains, being passed first
to the stern of the vessel and sustained by a roller or rollers passed forward
to the stern dial posts. Figure 3 shews the bow dial apparatus drawn to an
enlarged scale. Figure 4, view of stern dial apparatus. Figure 5, plan view
of stern dial; and Figure 6, plan view of bow dial; (Figures 4, 5, and 6 are
drawn on the same scale as Figure 3). Near the bow of the vessel at
Figure 1 will be observed an upright rod or pillar a carrying a horizontal
tiller or hand wheel b, its upper end passing through a dial plate c, (which
dial plate is screwed on to the metal framing); its upper end carrying the
index d, and its lower end passing the roller e into the bearing f. An endless
rope or chain 9, passing over any number of small rollers h (see Figure 2)
placed at intervals along the sides or other part of the ship, extends from the
roller e to the roller e¹ on the stern pillar a', which passes through the dial c
carries an index d', and works on a bearing f¹, in similar manner as the bow
apparatus. Figures 1 and 2 shew the application of the Invention to the
bridge of a paddle steamer, being the endless chain, and the stern dial
apparatus. The dotted lines m, m, m, (Figure 2) denote a different position
of the endless chain in its passage from one pillar to the other. The bow.and
bridge apparatus will be observed by reference to Figure 2 to be entirely
distinct from each other, having separate stern dial frames. To work the
adjutant helm," the captain on the bridge of a paddle-wheel steamer, or the

page_text: pilot or other officer conning the ship at the bow, wishing the course thereof
to be altered, moves the hand or tiller wheel 6 of the apparatus near him to
the right or left; the pillar a moves in the direction of the impulse, directing
the index d to the required point on the dial; the roller e turning with the
pillar carries the endless chain g with it, which latter communicates unerringly
the same motion to the pillar a¹ and index d¹ of the stern dial apparatus,
which, being placed as aforesaid directly under the eye of the steersman and
contiguous to the compass, enables him to put the order of the captain or pilot
into instant execution.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means by which
I carry it into practical effect, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I
lay no claim to the exclusive use of any of the parts or portions of machinery
or apparatus herein described or shewn in the Drawing, taken as parts or
portions, or when used separately and not in combination or for the purposes
of my Invention; nor do I confine myself to the exact modifications herein
described, nor to the proportion of parts to each other, as such may and
indeed must be varied to suit various ships or vessels; but I declare to be of my
Invention, and I claim the exclusive use of the combination or combinations of
parts or portions of machinery or apparatus herein-before described and shewn
in the Drawing, which form when so combined "Improvements in Communi-
cating by Signals between the Pilot and Steersman and between other Parts
of Vessels by means of Dial Apparatuses."
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry John Daniell, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
H. J. DANIELL. (L.S.)
Witness,
JOHN GEDGE, Patent Agent,
4, Wellington Street South, Strand,
London.