AN IMPROVED STEERING APPARATUS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Graham, of Ann Street, Devonport Street,
Commercial Road East, in the County of Middlesex, Pattern Maker,
"
Sealed the 23rd September 1857, and dated the 31st March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Graham at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st.
March 1857.
I, JOHN GRAHAM, of Ann Street, Devonport Street, Commercial Road
East, in the County of Middlesex, Pattern Maker, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED STEERING APPARATUS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement of apparatus for trans-
mitting the motion of the steering wheel to the tiller or rudder head, the
object being to keep the chains always at tension, and thus to hold the rudder
steady to its work, and also to increase the leverage as the rudder is being
brought "hard over," and thereby to enable the steersman to work the tiller
without assistance in rough weather. The rotary motion of the steering wheel
I transmit by a chain or band to a chain wheel below the poop deck. This
wheel is mounted on a worm shaft, the worm of which takes into and drives
a worm wheel mounted loosely on a fixed spindle, which is bolted fast to the
deck beams, and is further secured by framing attached to the deck. To this

page_text: worm wheel I attach a double grooved excentric pulley, which receives the
chain or chains from the tiller, and by its axial motion imparts the desired
movement to the tiller. As the excentric pulley takes up and delivers the
chain at an unequal rate, it will be necessary to adapt the form of the tiller to
suit this inequality, and for that purpose I give it the form of an excentric
segment, which will deliver the chain at the rate it is taken up by the
increasing radius of the excentric pulley, and take up the chain at the unequal
rate at which it is delivered. The chain or chains may be kept taut by means
of adjusting screws, which work in lugs cast on the tiller.
It may be desirable, when constructing this apparatus on a large scale, to
drive the worm wheel by a pair of worms, which will divide tho strain and
ensure greater steadiness in the action of the parts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Graham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GRAHAM, of Ann Street, Devonport Street, Commercial Road East, in the
'County of Middlesex, Pattern Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Graham, Her special license that I, the said John Graham, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Graham, my executors, administrators, and 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 "AN IMPROVED STEERING APPARATUS,"
upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said John Graham, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 1, the said John Graham, 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
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement of apparatus for trans-
mitting the motion of the steering wheel to the tiller or rudder head, the object
being to keep the chains always at tension, and thus to hold the rudder steady
to its work, and also to increase the leverage as the rudder is being brought
"hard over," and thereby to enable the steersman to work the tiller without
assistance in rough weather.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the steering
wheel with its chain and chain wheel, whereby the motion of the steering
wheel is transmitted to the tiller and rudder; Fig. 2 is a plan of some of the
gearing, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same. a is the steering wheel,
which is of the ordinary construction. The rotary motion of the steering
wheel is transmitted by a chain or band b, b, to a chain wheel or barrel c
below the poop deck, as shewn at Fig. 1. The chain is kept properly taut
around the barrel and chain wheel by means of a bearing or guide pulley b*.
The wheel or barrel c is mounted on a worm shaft d, the worm of which takes
into and drives a worm wheel e, mounted loosely on a fixed spindle f, as shewn
in Fig. 2. The spindle f is bolted fast to the deck beams, and is further
secured by a framing attached to the deck. To this worm wheel e is attached
a double grooved excentric pulley g, which receives the chain or chains h from
the tiller i, and by its axial motion imparts the desired movement to the
tiller i, and by that means causes the rudder post to turn on its axis, as
เ
is well understood. As the excentric pulley 9 takes up and delivers the
chain h at an unequal rate, it will be necessary to adapt the form of the
tiller i to suit this inequality, and for that purpose I give it the form of an
excentric segment, as shewn in Fig. 2, and which will deliver the chain at the
rate it is taken up by the increasing radius of the excentric pulley g, and take
up the chain at the unequal rate at which it is delivered. The tiller chain or
chains h may be kept taut by means of adjusting screws k, which work in lugs
cast on the tiller, as shown in Fig. 2. It may be desirable, when constructing
this apparatus on a large scale, to drive the worm wheel by a pair of worms,
which will divide the strain and ensure greater steadiness in the action of the
parts.
Having now described my Invention of "An Improved Steering Apparatus,"

page_text: and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim,
as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the means
herein described, or any mere modification thereof, for transmitting the motion
of the steering wheel to the rudder head or tiller of ships or vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Graham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
C. J. WINTERSGILL,
66, Chancery Lane.
JOHN GRAHAM. (L.S.)