IMPROVEMENTS IN RUDDERS OR APPARATUS FOR STEERING VESSELS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Morris West Ruthven, of 72, Oxford Terrace,
.Hyde Park, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RUDDERS OR APPARATUS FOR STEERING VESSELS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Morris West Ruthven
at the Office. of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th July 1868.
I, MORRIS WEST RUTHVEN, of 72, Oxford Terrace, Hyde Park, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RUDDERS OR APPARATUS' FOR STEERING VESSELS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of rudder
whereby on the usual movements being imparted to it by the ordinary steering
apparatus, it will present a concave or curved face to the water in place of a
plane surface as heretofore.
In carrying out this Invention the rudder is composed of three or more
movable parts like so many separate rudders hinged' to each other. In order
to cause the separate hinged parts to form a curve or concave when the
rudder is put over to "starboard" or "port," a lever is attached to each

page_text: part and has a pin in one end which works in a slotted pin secured to the
preceding part, and this arrangement is carried out and repeated through the
entire series, the lever of that part adjoining the stern post working in a slotted
piece secured to the stern post itself. By removing the several pins from the
levers and passing a bolt through each of them, the several hinged parts may
be locked together, and the rudder will then act as an ordinary rudder. In
place of the pin of each lever working in a slot in the adjoining part, all the
pins in the several levers may be made to work in one, and the same slotted
pièce secured to the stern post. Other arrangements might obviously be
employed for effecting the essential feature of the Invention, namely, the pro-
ducing of a curved rudder, and so obtaining a better resistance to the water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Morris West Ruthven in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MORRIS
WEST RUTHVEN, of 72; Oxford Terrace, Hyde Park, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Morris West Ruthven, Her special license that I, the said Morris
West Ruthven, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Morris West Ruthven, 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN RUDDERS OR APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Morris West Ruthven, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or
under the hand and seal of one of them, 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..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Morris West Ruthven, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
rudder whereby, on the usual movements being imparted to it by the ordinary
or other steering apparatus, it will present an approximately curved surface or
a surface composed of a number of planes at increasing angles to the keel of
the vessel.
According to one mode of carrying out this Invention the rudder is com-
posed of three or more moveable parts like so many separate rudders hinged
to each other. In order to cause these separate binged parts to form an
approximate curve when the rudder is put over to "starboard" or "port," &
lever is attached to each part and has a pin or slot in one end which works in
a slotted piece or pin secured to the preceding part, and this. arrangement is
carried out and repeated through the entire series, the lever of the second part
working in a slotted piece or pin secured to the stern post itself. In place of
the pin or slot of each lever working in a slot or pin in the adjoining part all
the pins or slots of the several levers may be made to work in one and the
same piece secured to the stern post, which piece is provided with slots or pins.
as the case may be. Other arrangements might obviously be employed for
effecting the essential feature of the Invention herein-before referred to.
And in order that my 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 is an elevation showing the side of the rudder constructed according
to my Invention. A, B, C, and D, are the several parts composing the
rudder capable of forming an approximation to a curve. The means by
which these parts are made to form the said curve on the "movement of the
ordinary or other steering gear are the following:-A (Figure 1) is the part
hung to the stern post (S) and to the head of which part A the said steering
gear is applied. The second part B has fixed on its head H a lever or crank L.
the end of which is guided by a pin or antifriction roller M fixed on the
piece N, secured to the stern of the vessel. The third part C has a similar
lever or crank L on its head, the end of which is guided by a pin or antifriction
roller M fixed on the piece N', projecting from the first part A. The fourth

page_text: part D has a similar crank L on its head H, the end of which is guided by a
pin or antifriction roller M fixed on the piece N", projecting from the second
part B. If more parts be used they are to be fixed and guided in a similar
way to that above described.
Figure 2 is a plan or top view of Figure 1, and represents the action or
position of the different parts when the first part A is moved to one side.
The end of the crank or lever L which is fixed on the head H of the part B,
and is retained in a central line with the vessel by the pin or antifriction
roller M fixed on the stern of the vessel, causes the part B to move further
round or to a still greater angle to the course of the vessel, while the end of
the crank or lever L fixed on the head H of the part C being retained in a
central line with the first part A by the pin or antifriction roller M fixed on A,
is moved still further round or to a still greater angle, and the end of the
lever or crank L on the head H of the part D being retained by the pin or
antifriction roller M fixed on the part B is moved to a still greater angle,
thus producing the curve shewn. Different degrees of curves are produced
according to the distance which the pin or antifriction roller. M is from the
head H of each part. The curves are produced on either side of the vessel
according as the part A is moved to the starboard or larboard side.
Figure 8 represents the same view as Figure 1, the method of moving the
parts being slightly different. The pins or antifriction rollers M are all fixed
in a frame O secured to the stern somewhat as shown in the Drawings, the
slotted ends of the cranks L on the heads H being held in the central
position by the pins or antifriction rollers. M.
Figure 4 is plan or top view of Figure 3, and represents the action or
position of the different parts when the first part A is moved to one side.
The several moveable parts A, B, C, and D in Figures 1 and 3 as described
may be fixed so as to act as a common rudder in one piece by removing the
antifriction rollers or pins and passing a bolt through the body of each crank
into the part next it, and over which it passes.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my 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 general construction and arrangement of rudders for vessels as
herein-before described.
Second, the application and use of a rudder constructed in three or more

page_text: parts arranged so as to approximate to a curve on imparting motion to the
part next the stern post by the ordinary or other steering gear, as herein-
before described.
Third, the producing of what may be called approximation to a curve with
rudders constructed of more than one piece by the methods or similar method
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Morris West Ruthven, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four:
MORRIS WEST RUTHVEN. (L.S.)
MORRIS WEST RUTHVEN. (L.S.)