Improvements in and connected with Apparatus or Means for Actuating and Controlling Ships' Rudders.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Dec., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 4th Sept., 1891-Accepted, 14th Nov., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Apparatus or Means for
Actuating and Controlling Ships' Rudders.
I, WILLIAM BRUCE CUMMING, of 10, Merton Grove, Bootle, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention' to be as
follows :-
This invention has reference, more particularly, to apparatus known as "rudder
brakes," and especially those kinds of rudder brakes in which one or more cylinders
are combined with the tiller or equivalent means, and are controlled and worked
hydraulically. An example of such an apparatus is set forth in the Specification of
Letters Patent No. 9282 of 1885, granted to myself and another.
According to the present invention I provide and construct a combined rudder
brake and steering gear. The rudder brake portion or part may consist of a
cylinder or cylinders worked by hydraulics, that is of the nature of the apparatus
above referred to, whilst the other parts by which the apparatus may be used as a
steering gear may consist of one or more hydraulic cylinders having plungers or
pistons working therein and connected with the rudder brake cylinder or cylinders
by pipes or conduits, arranged and combined with the different parts of the
cylinders in such a manner that water or other fluid may be forced from the
actuating or steering cylinder to the different parts of the rudder brake cylinders,
and cause the moving parts thereof, or connected therewith, to work the tiller to
and fro as desired.
If such a combination as this be used under this invention, the transforming of
the brake to the steering gear or steering gear to the brake may be effected by the
closing of a valve or valves by which communication (such as between two ends of
the actuating or steering cylinder) may be closed or opened at will, and communi-
cations made or broken."
A means of operating the apparatus when used as a hand steering gear may
consist in employing an ordinary wheel or wheels, adapted to force, by screw
mechanism, or by equivalent mechanism, the piston or plunger of the actuating
or steering cylinder or cylinders to and fro; or conversely, if the cylinder be
a moving one and the plunger fixed, the cylinder of course would be so worked.
A mechanical means for actuating the apparatus may consist in employing a
steam or other engine to work the apparatus, and on the engine may be provided
suitable cut-off valve mechanism by which when the tiller had been moved the
requisite degree the motor would cease to work.
Another modification' of a mechanical means of working the steering gear may
consist of a plunger pump or pumps adapted to force the liquid into the apparatus
as required, such pump or pumps being worked by a suitable motor, such as above
described, and in this case an automatic cut off may also be used. Such a cut off
may consist in employing a controlling valve of any suitable kind, by which the
liquid to the tiller actuating cylinder or cylinders may be controlled and cut off, so
that when the degree is reached to which it is desired to move the tiller, the
movement of the tiller, or parts connected therewith, acts upon this valve and
actuates it, and automatically stops the flow of fluid.
It is to be understood however with reference to the hand or mechanical means
of operating the gear, that it may be applied and combined in various ways and
different kinds of motor mechanism employed for the purpose.
In connection with the hydraulic actuating cylinder or cylinders I may employ a
pipe or conduit having a non-return valve thereon by which fluid would be supplied
to such cylinder or cylinders constantly, to make up for waste or leakage therein,

page_text: the pressure necessary to cause the liquid to flow thereto being effected by providing
a vessel at an elevated position to attain a head of liquid or by allowing an artificial
pressure to be exerted upon the liquid in this feed pipe.
I have to state as. regards the several parts herein referred to, that these may be
arranged, combined; and constructed in many ways, and be of different forms, and
that in various sizes of vessels to which the invention may be applied, and the
various conditions under which such applications may be made, the invention may
be modified and carried out to suit such applications; and further, equivalents of
the parts specified or referred to may be employed.
Dated this 3rd day of December 1890.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15, Water Street, Liverpool, Applicant's Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Apparatus or Means for
Actuating and Controlling Ships' Rudders.
I, WILLIAM BRUCE CUMMING, of 10, Merton Grove, Bootle, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, 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 :-
rudder
This invention has reference, more particularly, to apparatus known as
brakes," and especially those kinds of rudder brakes in which one or more cylinders
are combined with the tiller or equivalent means, and are controlled and worked
hydraulically. An example of such an apparatus is set forth in the Specification of
Letters Patent No. 9282 of 1885, granted to myself and another.
According to the present invention I provide and construct a combined rudder
brake and steering gear. The rudder brake portion or part may consist of a
cylinder or cylinders worked by hydraulics, that is, of the nature of the apparatus
above referred to, whilst the other parts by which the apparatus may be used as a
steering gear inay consist of one or more hydraulic cylinders having plungers or
pistons working therein and connected with the rudder brake cylinder or cylinders
by pipes or conduits, arranged and combined with the different parts of the
cylinders in such a manner that water or other fluid may be forced from the
actuating or steering cylinder to the different parts of the rudder brake cylinders,
and cause the moving parts thereof, or connected therewith, to work the tiller to
and fro as desired.
If such a combination as this be used under this invention, the transforming of
the brake to the steering gear, or steering gear to the brake, may be effected by
the closing of a valve or valves by which communication (such as between two ends
of the actuating or steering cylinder) may be made or broken.
A means of operating the apparatus when used as a hand steering gear may
consist in employing an ordinary wheel or wheels, adapted to force by screw
mechanism, or by equivalent mechanism, the piston or plunger of the actuating or
steering cylinder or cylinders to and fro: or conversely, if the cylinder be a moving
one and the plunger fixed, the cylinder of course would be so worked.
A mechanical means for actuating the apparatus may consist in employing a
steam or other engine to work the apparatus, and on the engine may be provided
suitable cut off valve mechanism by which when the tiller had been moved the
requisite degree. the motor would cease to work.
Another modification of a mechanical means of working the steering gear may
consist of a plunger pump or pumps adapted to force the liquid into the apparatus
as required, such pump or pumps being worked by a suitable motor, such as above
described, and in this case an automatic cut off may also be used. Such a cut off
may consist in employing a controlling valve of any suitable kind, by which the

page_text: liquid to the tiller actuating cylinder or cylinders may be controlled and cut off, so
that when the degree is reached, to which it is desired to move the tiller, the
movement of the tiller, or parts connected therewith, acts upon this valve and
actuates it, and automatically stops the flow of fluid.
It is to be understood, however, with reference to the hand or mechanical means
of operating the gear, that it may be applied and combined in various ways and
different kinds of motor mechanism employed for the purpose.
In connection with the hydraulic actuating cylinder or cylinders I may employ a
pipe or conduit having a non-return valve thereon by which fluid would be supplied
to such cylinder or cylinders constantly, to make up for waste or leakage therein,
the pressure necessary to cause the liquid to flow thereto being effected by providing
a vessel at an elevated position to attain a head of liquid or by allowing an artificial
pressure to be exerted upon the liquid in this feed pipe.
•
In the drawings which serve to illustrate my invention,
Figure 1 (partly on Sheet 1 and partly on Sheet 2) is a plan shewing the
combined steering gear and rudder brake, in bits.
Figure 2 is an end view of same; and
Figure 3 is a sectional elevation through the steering gear.
Figure 4 is an elevation.
Figure 5 an end view; and
Figure 6 a plan shewing a modified arrangement of the invention wherein pumps
are driven by the steering wheel.
Figure 7 is a sectional elevation of the controlling valve of the apparatus shewn
in Figures 4, 5 and 6.
With reference now to the drawings, A is the steering pump cylinder; B are
the brake cylinders when used as a rudder brake, and the tiller operating cylinders
when used as a steering gear. C are the hand steering wheels; D is the tiller;
E is the rudder head. F are the piston rods of the cylinders B and G is the
piston, and H the piston rod of the cylinder A.
In the arrangement shewn in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the piston G is worked to
and fro in its cylinder by the rotation of the sleeve I, which has upon its internal
surface a thread which meshes with an equivalent thread upon the end H₁ of the
piston rod H, the sleeve I itself being mounted in bearings 1' and having the
hand steering wheels C fixed upon it. By rotating, therefore, the sleeve I,
the rod H and H will be forced in and out, such rod being prevented from
turning by the crosshead H2 which is keyed thereon and slides on rods h connected
to and coupling together one of the bearings I¹ and the cylinder A.
In
The cylinders B are adapted to oscillate in the horizontal plane about a central
vertical axis at J. Their axes are in the form of hollow trunnions which are
mounted or supported in the bracket J. Through these trunnions the flow of
liquid to and from both ends of the cylinders takes place, the liquid being conveyed
from the upper trunnion to the back end of the cylinder of one of such cylinders
by a port or passage b, while the liquid from the lower trunnion to the front end of
that cylinder takes place through a port 6' at the under side of the cylinder.
the other cylinder B, the port c connecting the upper trunnion with the front of
the cylinder is at the top, whilst the port e connecting the lower trunnion with the
back end of that cylinder, is underneath the same. The two upper trunnions J
communicate with the front end of the cylinder A by the pipes K, whilst the
lower trunnions of the two cylinders B communicate with the other end of the
cylinder A by the pipes L.
M is a reservoir or tank for holding the supply of liquid with which the
cylinders B are filled, pressure being maintained upon the liquid therein by con-
necting it to a source of pressure, such as a steam generator, pump, accumulator, or
the like. The reservoir M communicates with the system by a pipe m which has
upon it a non-return valve m¹. This valve is provided and adapted to prevent the
return of liquid from the system when a sea strikes the rudder or whenever the
pressure in the pipes is greater than that in the tank and supply pipe, and is of

page_text: considerable importance. This non-return valve normally works automatically, but
it may be kept down in place, when or if desired, by the screw down spindle and
wheel m².
To compensate for or render negative any inequalities in the quantities forced
into and out of one part to another of the cylinders B at different parts of the
stroke, small air vessels 62 are provided on the ends of such cylinders. An equivalent
provision, namely, air vessels a, are provided upon the ends of the cylinder A, for a
similar purpose.
The pipe a', shewn more clearly in Figures 1 and 3, is provided to connect the
opposite ends of the cylinders together, that is, put them in communication with
each other, when the apparatus is to be used as a rudder brake, and this pipe is
provided with a cock a² by which communication may be made or broken. This
cock has a handle a³ which works over a quadrant a', having holes therein as
shewn, and by moving the handle a³ (which also has a hole therein) over the
quadrant a', the amount of opening desired may be given the plug of the cock a²,
at which point it may be set by inserting a pin through the handle and quadrant.
Thus, the more opening is given the less resistance will be given to the liquid and
vice versa.
When the apparatus is used as a steering gear, the cock a² is shut and no com-
munication exists directly between the opposite ends of the cylinder A. The action,
then is, that by turning the steering wheels C the piston G will be moved to one
end or the other of the cylinder A say the end nearest such steering wheels. Then,
the liquid from that end of the cylinder is forced out of it through the pipes K to
the front end of one cylinder B through the upper trunnion thereof and the port c
and to the back end of the other cylinder through the upper trunnion and the port b.
The liquid being thus forced into those cylinders, presses one of the pistons thereof
inwards and the other outwards, and thereby through the piston rods F, whose
heads are connected to the arms of the tiller D, moves the tiller, and with it, the
rudder. The opposite movement of the tiller is, of course, made by rotating the
steering wheels in the opposite direction, whereby the piston G is moved in
the opposite direction, as are the pistons of the cylinders B by the pressure of
liquid acting upon them in the manner just described.
When the apparatus is to be used as a rudder brake only, the cock a² is opened
more or less, and more or less free and direct communication between the opposite
ends of the cylinder A is made. Besides this the piston G is moved to the central
position, and the crosshead H2 fixed to the bars or rods by cotters h¹, which pass
through the ends of the crosshead and the rods h. Under these conditions the
action of the apparatus is, that when a sea strikes the rudder, the pistons of the
cylinders B, through their piston rods F, tend to force the water or liquid from
the opposite ends of the two cylinders to the others. Thus assume the sea striking
the rudder brings pressure upon the piston rods F in the direction shewn by the
arrows in Figure 1; the liquid from one cylinder B (the upper one in the drawing)
will be forced through the port c', lower trunnion and pipe L, to the cylinder A,
whilst the liquid from the opposite end of the other cylinder B is also forced
through its port ', lower trunnion and pipe L to the same end of the cylinder A,
and the combined volumes of this liquid so forced into one end of A pass by way
of the pipe a', and cock a², to the opposite end of the cylinder A, and on and from
thence through the pipes K, upper trunnions of the two cylinders B, respective
ports c, b to the ends of such cylinders, opposite to those from which the liquid
has been forced. According to the amount of opening given by the cock a² so will
be the degree and rapidity of the cushioning effect to the rudder.
The tail piston rod H³ is provided to render the displacement of the stroke of
the piston on its opposite sides equal to that of the other.
In the arrangement shewn in Figures 4 to 7 the wheel c is adapted to be turned
in the same direction as the rudder moves, and to reverse the direction of the
rudder the direction of the motion of the wheel has only to be reversed. This
mode of arrangement and operation is of some importance to sailors.

page_text: In the arrangement shewn in Figures 4 to 7, the steering wheel is adapted
to operate a set of pumps A, of single acting plunger type having inlet valves a³
and delivery valves a'. The cylinders B are connected to the tiller and arranged
in the same manner as set forth with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3, and
operate similarly to them; and their communicating or connecting pipes K L
communicate with the pumps by way of a controlling valve device N, having a
hollow clear way double-headed piston valve n working therein, and branches ', n²,
n³, n². The branch n is connected by a pipe o' with the delivery valves a
of the pumps A; the branch n² communicates by a pipe 02 with the pipe K,
which communicates with the cylinders B through their upper trunnion;
the branch communicates with the inlet valves a³ of the pumps A by
the pipe o; and the branch n communicates with the pipe L which
connects two cylinders B through their lower trunnions.
That is to say,
the branches and n³ communicate respectively with the delivery valve and
inlet valve of the pumps A through their respective pipes o, o³, whilst the
branches n² and n communicate respectively with the pipes K, L, through their
respective pipes o², o*.
When this apparatus is arranged to act as a steering gear, the position of the
valve n determines the direction of the flow of the liquid from the pumps A as
regards its delivery to the pipe K or the pipe L, and thus according to the
position of this valve, so will be the direction in which the pistons of the
cylinders B are moved. For instance, when the valve n is in the position shewn
in Figure 7, the liquid delivered from the pumps A flows by way of the pipe o¹
and the branch n' into the annular space between the heads of the valves n,
from whence it passes by the branch n², pipe o², and pipe K to the rear end of
the cylinder at the top of Figure 6 (by way of its upper trunnion and port ),
and also to the opposite end of the other cylinder B. On the other hand, when
the valve n is reversed and stands in its second position, its upper head stands
in its casing between the branch and the branch ², whilst its lower head
stands between the branch n³ and the branch n'. The communications then
made are that the branch n¹ communicates with the lower branch n' by way of
the hollow space through the valve n, the return liquid flowing through the
valve case by way of the branch n², the annular space round the valve n, and
the branch. Under these conditions, the liquid from the pumps will flow by
way of the branch n* and pipe of to the pipe L and the ends of the cylinders B
opposite to those to which it flowed when the valve was set as previously
describe l.
In the arrangement shewn in the Figures 4 to 7, the actuation of the valve n
is effected by the movement of the steering wheels C, longitudinally, on the
shaft H. This to and fro movement is effected by providing the end of the
shaft H with a thread, and the internal surface of the sleeve I on which the
wheel C is mounted, with a corresponding thread, and by providing a bell
crank lever P, having one end gearing in a recess in the sleeve I and the other
end connected to the valve n by a rod p. Hence, when the wheel C is moved
in one direction, the bell crank lever is moved in one way, and vice versa.
The limitation of longitudinal movement of the sleeve I upon the shaft H,
and the throw of the valve n, are governed by projections provided on either
end of the sleeve I, and corresponding projecting parts on collars 4 on the
shaft H, against which the projecting parts i come when the sleeve I has arrived
at either of its limits of motion on the shaft H. It will be seen the provisions i
and 2 constitute a species of clutch gear.
A small air vessel a is provided on the discharge pipe of the pumps A to equalize
or compensate for the differences of volume which would be forced and drawn in and
through the system by the pumps A at different parts of their strokes.
When the apparatus is used as a rudder brake, a cock a², in the valve casing N,
is opened, whereby communication between the branches 2 and n' is made by way
of a passage a', and the liquid forced from the opposite ends of the two cylinders B

page_text: by a sea striking the rudder, in the manner above described, is caused to pass
through the system of pipes and apparatus, from such ends to the others, by way of
the passage a' and cock a²; and therefore, according to the amount of opening of
the cock a², so will be the rate of flow of liquid, and the amount of cushioning
effect.
22
In lieu of operating the valve n in the manner above described with reference to
Figures 4 to 7, it may be worked by hand, when a suitable lever, wheel, or other
device, would be provided to actuate it. Or, in some cases, the actuation of the
pumps A would be effected by a steam engine or other motor, in which case the
valve a would constitute the controlling valve of the apparatus, and be operated
by the hand wheel, and by the apparatus itself, in the manner usual in steam
steering gears.
With respect to the operation of the piston G of the cylinder A, set forth with
reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3, a steam engine or other motor may be used in lieu
of the hand steering wheels C, or in conjunction with them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, it is to be understood that
the invention is not confined to the particular construction, dispositions, or com-
binations of parts, as these may be modified in many ways without departing from
the general nature and scope of the invention, but I declare that what I claim in
in respect of the herein described invention is :-
1. The herein described improvements in apparatus for use in connection with
ships' rudders, consisting of apparatus adapted to serve either as a rudder brake or
steering gear, comprising a hydraulic or equivalent cylinder and ram or piston (or
their equivalent), or cylinders and rams or pistons, connected with the rudder or
tiller and liquid forcing apparatus operated by hand or power-motor; for the
purposes set forth.
2. Apparatus adapted to serve either as a rudder brake or steering gear, com-
prising hydraulic cylinders and pistons or rams connected with the rudder tiller ;
and liquid forcing apparatus operated by the hand steering wheel, or an engine, and
adapted to force such liquid to and from said cylinders and actuate the same and
move the tiller when the apparatus is serving as a steering gear, and when serving
as a rudder brake, said forcing apparatus is by-passed, or the liquid allowed to flow
through same for the purposes set forth.
3. In apparatus for actuating and controlling ships' rudders, the parts arranged
and adapted to operate substantially as set forth with reference to Figures 1,
2 and 3.
4. In apparatus for actuating and controlling ships' rudders, the parts arranged
and adapted to operate substantially as set forth with reference to Figures 4, 5,
6 and 7.
5. In hydraulic rudder brakes, or combined rudder brakes and steering gears,
the combination of an hydraulic cylinder and ram or piston (or a plurality of same)
connected with the tiller; a vessel or conduit from or through which the liquid
used is supplied thereto; and a non-return valve interposed between said cylinders
and supply vessel or conduit; for the purposes set forth.
6. In apparatus of the kind herein described or referred to, a piston controlling
valve (Figure 7) adapted to operate and constructed substantially as set forth.
7. The herein described improvement in ships' steering gears consisting of a
steering gear hydraulically operated, wherein the liquid is forced by pumps from a
steering wheel, and the reversal of direction of movement of the rudder is effected
by the reversal of direction of rotation of the steering wheel.
Dated this 3rd day of September 1891
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15, Water Street, Liverpool, Applicant's Patent Agents.