Improved Means for Protecting Tail or Propeller Shafts of Steamships.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Dec., 1898-Accepted, 14th Jan., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Protecting Tail or Propeller Shafts of
Steamships.
I, ALEXANDER MACLAINE, of No. 1, Queen's Elms, Belfast, in the County of
Antrim, Shipowner, 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:--
I fit on the tail or propeller shafts of steamships one or more liners, preferably
of brass, wholly or partially turned up inside and out and placed between the
ordinary forward and after brass liner bearings of the shaft, and I arrange these
additional intermediate liners with vacant spaces at their ends all round, suitable
for the efficient introduction of india rubber or other water tight materials and
fastenings; so as to entirely protect the tail or propeller shaft from the injurious
action of sea water and its impurities; and in order that my said invention may
be more fully understood, I shall now proceed to refer to the drawings upon the
sheet hereunto annexed, the same letters of reference indicating the same or
corresponding parts throughout all the figures. Fig. I is a longitudinal view
of a tail or propeller shaft A, showing the ordinary forward and after brass liner
bearings B & C, which go all round the shaft; and between these ordinary bear-
ings I fit an intermediate all round liner D, preferably of brass, and more or less
turned up inside and outside, arranged with vacant spaces forming grooves E E
all round between the intermediate and ordinary liners and, by preference, I
make these grooves bevelled as shown at E Fig. II to suit the shape of india
rubber or other water-tight materials and fastenings which, when introduced,
will entirely protect the tail or propeller shaft A from the injurious action of sea
water and its impurities and, by preference, I use strips of india rubber for
tightening these bevelled grooves E E all round made of similar section as the
grooves as shown at G Fig. 2; but about one sixteenth of an inch larger than the
grocve, so that when the india rubber strip is stretched it will be reduced in size
to enter the groove easily, and afterwards expand when relased from the strain,
so as to accurately and tightly fill the bevelled groove and, by preference, I cut
the india rubber strips a little longer than the circumference of the shaft, so that
the butt ends of the strip where cut, will press accurately and tightly against
each other circumferentially and, by preference, before introducing the india
rubber strips into the grooves I wash the whole grooves out thoroughly with
naptha or other suitable spirit and coat them over with thick rubber solution so
as to form jointed and compressed rubber rings entirely bedded in rubber solution
and perfectly water tight and then, by preference, for further security, I enfold
the jointed and bedded rubber rings G with a few turns of whip cord F Fig. 2 also
thoroughly bedded with rubber solution to secure the rubber ring firmly in its
place and make the grooves E E between the respective liners completely water
tight, and quite secure against the intro- of sea water with its impurities, and I may
use two or more intermediate liners instead of one as already described.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my said invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
-
The construction of tail or propeller shafts of steamships with one or more
intermediate liners, between the ordinary forward and after liner bearings, with
grooves and fittings to completely secure the tail or propeller shaft against the in-
jurious action of seawater and its impurities, all substantially as described and
illustrated by the drawings hereunto annexed.
Dated this Thirtieth day of November 1898.