IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert James Bakewell, of Devonport, in the
County of Devon, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS."
Sealed the 24th November 1868, and dated the 26th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert James
Bakewell at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 26th May 1868.
I, HERBERT JAMES BAKEWELL, of Devonport, in the County of
Devon, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the application of a differential pulley
or pulleys in connection with the hand wheel of the helmsman and
a chain wheel on the rudder post, so as to obtain increased leverage
and perfect controul over the rudder, which by this means is maintained
firmly in any position in which it may be placed unaided by the man
at the wheel. A chain wheel, entire or in part, is attached to the
rudder post, so that by a connection with its periphery the rudder
may be turned as far as required. Chains communicating with the

page_text: chain wheel on the rudder post are attached to two pulley blocks
which carry the loop ends of an endless chain pendent or stretched from
a pair of differential pulley wheels connected with the shaft of the
hand wheel, around which the chain is caused to move in either
direction.
Instead of the chain wheel there may be substituted one or more
arms or levers to which the chains for moving the rudder may be
fixed. The shaft carrying the differential pulley wheels may be placed
in a horizontal or vertical position as desired. The differential pulley
wheels may be fitted with projecting teeth, as a spocket wheel, to carry
pitch chain, or be provided with recesses on their circumferences
suitable to receive and hold chain of the ordinary construction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Herbert James Bakewell in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th November 1868. ·
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HERBERT
JAMES BAKEWELL, of Devonport, in the County of Devon, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Herbert James Bakewell, Her special
Licence that I, the said Herbert James Bakewell, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others, as I,. the said Herbert
James Bakewell, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Herbert James Bakewell,
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

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Herbert James Bakewell, 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 :-
My Invention consists in the application of differential wheels or
pulleys in connexion with the hand wheel of the helmsman and a chain
wheel on the rudder post, so as to obtain increased leverage and perfect
controul over the rudder, which by this means may be maintained firmly
in any position in which it may be placed. The chain wheel, entire
or in part, is fixed to the rudder post, so as by a connexion with the
periphery of that wheel the rudder may be turned as far as may be
required in either direction. The chain wheel may be circular in form
or of the shape shown at O in Drawing No. I. or, if desired, curved
arms or levers may be substituted for the chain wheel, to each of which
the chains that move the rudder post may be fixed. The chains which
communicate with the chain wheel on the rudder post are attached to
two ordinary pulley blocks that carry the loop ends of an endless chain
which passes over or round a pair of differential wheels fixed to the
shaft which is immediately connected with the hand wheel, the chain
being free to traverse round the differential wheels as they move in
either direction. The differential wheels are fixed firmly together upon
the same shaft, and may be fitted with projecting teeth to carry pitch-
chain, or they may be provided with recesses on their circumferences
suitable to receive and hold the chain which traverses round
them.
In the two accompanying Drawings No. I. shows the apparatus as
arranged when the hand wheel is placed at a distance from the rudder
head, though it is equally adapted to a position nearer the stern of the
ship, as shown in the second Drawing, No. II.
In the Drawing No. I. Figure 1 represents a plan of the apparatus
with the deck removed; Figure 2 is à fore and aft elevation. The letters
in each Figure indicate corresponding parts. The rudder is shown on
the "port" side of the ship at its extreme range of 35 degrees, that
being usually the greatest angle required.

page_text: The chain wheel A is secured firmly on the rudder post and is so fitted
as to receive and hold the chain C, C; B and B are two common pulley
blocks which carry the loop ends of the endless chain c, c, and they are
connected with the ends of the chains and rods C, C, and C¹, C¹; D, D¹,
are differential wheels firmly fixed or cast together, having a common
centre, and they are fixed on the vertical shaft S as shown in Figure 2.
The circumferences of the differential wheels hold the chain c, c, as
it is moved round upon them. H, H', (Figure 2) are hand wheels
communicating with the vertical shaft S by means of the mitre wheels
20, 20. Additional hand wheels may also be fitted in connexion with
this shaft, if required, on any other or on all the decks of the ship, as
shewn in skeleton lines at K. The letters e, e, indicate screw couplings
for tightening the chains.
The Drawing No. II. shows an arrangement of the several parts of
the apparatus when the hand wheel is placed at the stern as is generally
the case in mercantile ships. The action of this improved steering
apparatus depends mainly on the difference between the diameters of
the wheels D, D', which are made to differ in proportion to the power
required to be obtained. For illustration, suppose the chain wheel A
to be of a diameter equal to half an inch to one degree of its circum-
ference at the centre of chain, and the wheels D, D', to differ from
each other in their circumferences seven inches at the centre of
chain, then one revolution of the shaft and differential wheels will cause
the blocks B and B₁ to move in the directions of the arrows through a
space equal to inches (equal to 3 inches) and equal to 7 degrees
movement of the chain wheel and rudder, thus representing a power
of about 65 to 1 between the hand wheel of the helmsman and the
chain wheel A. By increasing the diameter of the chain wheel or by
diminishing the difference of the diameters of the wheels D, D', any
further increase of power may be obtained.
Some of the advantages to be gained by these improvements in
apparatus for steering ships are the following:-
1st. Great power to controul the helm in bad weather.
2nd. Direct hold of the rudder post without the intervention of long
or bent tillers as now used.
3rd. Great safety to the men employed at the wheel, as no sudden
action of the sea could affect them prejudicially.

page_text: 4th. A tight chain under all circumstances.
Lastly. This improved steering apparatus possesses the advantage of
occupying very little room in the cabin space at the stern of the ship
when fitted under the deck as in ships of war.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner in which it is
carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I disclaim originality
in the construction of differential pulleys as commonly used in differential
pulley blocks; but what I claim as new and desire to secure by the
Letters Patent aforesaid is, the application of the power and advantages
gained by the use of differential wheels to the steering of ships in the
manner substantially as herein-before described and indicated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert James Bakewell, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this 23d day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
HERBERT JAMES BAKEWELL. (L.S.)