Improvements relating to Apparatus for Indicating and Registering the Speed of Ships and of Currents.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Mar., 1887
Complete Left, 5th Dec., 1887
Complete Accepted, 2nd Mar., 1888
Improvements relating to Apparatus for Indicating and Registering
the Speed of Ships and of Currents.
We JAMES THORNE, Merchant and EBENEZER BANTON BURR, Engineer, both of
85 Gracechurch Street in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
The main object of our invention is to provide for indicating the " present speed
of a ship or vessel that is to say, the speed thereof at any moment, and, at the same
time, registering the total distance run by the said ship or vessel.
In the Specification of Letters Patent granted to the said James Thorne and dated
22nd May A.D. 1886 No. 6931, an apparatus is described for indicating speed by the
deflection of a needle or pointer by means of electric currents induced in a copper
sheath or drum when rotated in a magnetic field.
According to one part of our present invention, we combine, with a speed indicator
such as that described in the said former specification, a ship's log of any well-known
or suitable construction, and we connect the driving shafts or spindles of the said
indicator and log by means of suitable gearing. The driving shaft or spindle of the
indicator or that of the log is connected by means of a rope or cord to a rotator
of the kind usually employed in connection with ships logs. If it is not desired to
ascertain the total distance run by the ship or vessel, we dispense with the log or
speed register. We find it advantageous to employ multiplying gear between the
driving shaft of the indicator and the shaft on which the copper sheath or drum is
fixed.
We sometimes form or fix a worm or endless screw on the driving shaft of the
indicator or on a shaft coupled thereto, and combine, with the said indicator, counting
or registering apparatus which is provided with a worm-wheel adapted to be geared

page_text: with the said worm or endless screw. Or we combine, with the indicator in any
other convenient manner, apparatus which will be operated by the rotator that
drives the indicator and which will register the total distance travelled by the ship
or vessel.
The counting or registering mechanism of some of the ships' logs at present in use
can be advantageously employed in combination with the said speed indicator for the
purpose of our invention.
It is obvious, however, that there are many ways in which our said invention may
be carried into practice.
1 1
L. 1007
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Apparatus for Indicating and Registering
the Speed of Ships and of Currents.
We, JAMES THORNE, Merchant, and EBENEZER BANTON BURK, Engineer both of
85 Gracechurch Street, in the City of London, 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 :-
:
The main object of our invention is to provide for indicating the "present speed
of a ship or vessel, that is to say, the speed thereof at any moment, and at the same
time, registering the total distance run by the said ship or vessel during the time the
apparatus is in use.
In the Specification of former Letters Patent granted to the said James Thorne
and dated 22nd May A.D. 1886, No. 6931, an apparatus is described for indi-
cating speed by the deflection of a needle or pointer by means of electric currents
induced in a copper sheath or drun when rotated in a magnetic field.
According to one part of our present invention we combine, with a speed
indicator such as that described in the said former specification, a ship's log of
any well-known or suitable construction, and we provide means for driving the said
speed indicator and ship's log. For this purpose, we sometimes employ a shaft provided
with gearing as hereinafter described, whereby the said speed indicator and ship's
log are rotated at their proper relative speed. Moreover the said shaft is connected
by means of a vertical or other shaft and mitre or bevel gearing or other means to a
rotator of the kind usually employed in connection with ship's logs. If it is not
desired to ascertain the total distance run by the ship or vessel during the time the
apparatus is in use. The ship's log can be dispensed with and the indicator apparatus
used alone.
We find it advantageous to employ multiplying gear between the shaft driven
by the rotator and the spindle upon which the copper sheath or drum of the speed
indicator is fixed.
Our said invention is conveniently and advantageously carried into practice in the
following manner, that is to say :-Upon a shaft supported horizontally in bearings,
we form or fix a worm or endless screw which is geared with a worm-wheel & fixed
upon the driving spindle of a ship's log of any suitable descripton. At one extremity
of the said shaft we provide a toothed wheel having a suitable number of teeth, and
of the proper diameter to produce the required number of revolutions of the aforesaid
copper drum, with the spindle of which the above described toothed wheel is geared
by means of a pinion fixed upon the said spindle. At the other extremity of the said
shaft is fixed a mitre-wheel or bevel-wheel gearing with another mitre-wheel or bevel-
wheel fixed upon the upper end of a vertical shaft. This shaft has fixed thereon at its
lower end a mitre-wheel or bevel-wheel which is geared with another mitre-wheel or
bevel-wheel fixed upon a rotator similar to those usually employed in connection with
ship's logs. The said rotator is suitably supported in a short piece of tube open at

page_text: either extremity, or in a frame, supported by means of stays or of a bracket fixed or
attached to the side of the ship or vessel. If necessary the vertical shaft can also be
provided with suitable bearings in brackets attached to the ship's side at any suitable
points in the length of the said shaft.
Moreover we can combine with the said indicator in any other convenient manner,
any ordinary or well-known apparatus which can be put into operation by the rotator
that drives the indicator, and which will register the total distance run by the ship
or vessel while the apparatus is in use, for instance the counting or registering
mechanism of some of the ship's logs at present in use can be advantageously
employed in combination with the said speed indicator for the purpose of our
invention.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating apparatus constructed according to our said
invention.
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, and
Figure 3 an end elevation of a rotator hereinafter described.
Referring to Figure 1, A is a board or platform upon which is mounted a speed
indicator B, similar to that described in our said former specification.
C is a ship's log connected by means of the spindle a, worm-wheel a', and worm a²
with the shaft b of the speed indicator B.
D is a device, constructed and arranged as shown in Figures 2 and 3, for actuating
the said indicator and log. This device comprises a screw-rotator d supported by
pointed screws or studs d¹ fixed in the arms or cross-bars e of the tubular frame or
holder E.
A worm c is fixed on one end of the rotator d and engages with a worm-wheel c¹
fixed upon the vertical shaft 3. The upper end of this shaft has fixed thereon a
mitre or bevel-wheel c³ (Figure 1) geared with another bevel-wheel b' fixed upon the
end of the horizontal shaft b of the indicator B.
By these means the motion of the rotator d will be communicated, through the
worm c, worm-wheel c', shaft c³, bevel gearing e³, & and horizontal shaft b, to the
indicator B, and also, if required, to the log C, through the worm a², worm-wheel a¹
and shaft a. A conical piece e¹ is attached to the forward arm or cross-bar e to
facilitate the displacement of the water as the device D is moved through the same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we wish it understood that
we claim ;-
The combination, with a speed indicator such as is described in the Specification of
the aforesaid former Letters Patent, of a rotator connected therewith (with or without
the counting or registered mechanism), substantially as, and for the purposes, soi
forth.
1000
Dated this 5th day of December 1887.
JAMES THORNE.
EBENEZER BANTON BURR.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.