IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING GEAR FOR SHIPS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William 'Horatio Harfield, of the Mansion House
Buildings, in the City of London and George Thomas Burden of Newcastle
upon Tyne, in the county of Northumberland, Engineer for an Invention of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Horatio Harfield
and George Thomas Burden at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on
the 15th November 1883.
WILLIAM HORATIO HARFIELD of the Mansion House Buildings, in the City of
London and GEORGE THOMAS BURDEN of Newcastle upon Tyne in the county of
Northumberland Engineer "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING GEAR FOR SHIPS
"
This invention relates to improvements in steering gear for ships, the main
object of the improvements being to provide a steam steering gear which, in the
event of the steam supply being inadvertently or otherwise shut off, will
automatically enable the steering gear to be worked by hand.
In carrying out our invention we employ the usual steering wheel, on the shaft
of which we place a pinion which can be moved longitudinally thereon by means
of a specially constructed double clutch arrangement. This consists of an incline
and a straight surface on either end of the boss of the sliding pinion, the said
inclines bear against corresponding inclines placed on the steering wheel shaft in
such a manner that, if the steering wheel be turned, the pinion will be moved
either fore or aft, according to the direction in which the wheel is turned. For
instance if the wheel be turned to "port," the inclines at one end of the pinion will
operate, and if the wheel be turned to "starboard," the inclines on the other end
of the pinion will be operated; the extent of the sliding motion of the pinion is
limited by the above named straight surfaces thereof coming into contact with
corresponding straight surfaces on the steering wheel shaft.
The sliding pinion is coupled to a valve which governs the admission of steam to
the steam cylinders of the ordinary steering engine so as to allow of reversing
the same

page_text: The sliding pinion is constantly in gear with a spur wheel, the shaft of which
carries a drum or chain wheel operating chains passing to the quadrant or tiller in
the usual manner. With the said spur wheel two other pinions also engage, each
on a crank shaft receiving motion from the steering engine.
From this arrangement it will be evident that the movement of the steering
wheel from its midship position to either "port" or "starboard" will cause the
sliding pinion to move the valve so as to admit the steam to cause the steering
engine to run in the required direction, but should the supply of steam be
inadvertently shut off, or otherwise cease, during any position of the steering gear,
the continued turning of the wheel by the steersman in either direction will bring
one or other of the hereinbefore described set of straight surfaces in contact,
whereby the steering gear will be operated direct from the steering wheel, thereby
automatically becoming a hand steering gear.
The pinion instead of sliding on the shaft as above named may be placed on a
sliding sleeve in which case the inclined and straight surfaces are formed on the
said sleeve instead of on the bosses of the pinion.
Instead of the above named double clutch arrangement equivalent means may
be employed such as a screw and nut, or a pin and slotted sleeve arrangement, the
nut or the sleeve operating the valve governing the steam supply; should the
steam supply fail or cease the continued turning of the steering wheel in
the manner hereinbefore described will bring one or the other end of the nut, or of
the sleeve, in contact with a collar or shoulder on the steering wheel shaft, and
the steering gear will be operated direct from the steering wheel. Or in some
cases the sliding pinion may be operated by toggles or levers.
Provision is also made for disconnecting the pinions on the above named crank
shafts in cases where it may be required to steer by manual power alone.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Horatio Harfield and George Thomas Burden in the
Patent Office on the 15th May 1884.
WILLIAM HORATIO HARFIELD, of the Mansion House Buildings, in the city of
London and GEORGE THOMAS BURDEN of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the county of
Northumberland, Engineer * IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING GEAR FOR SHIPS
"
"
This Invention relates to improvements in steering gear for ships, the main
object of the improvements being to provide a steam steering gear which, in
the event of the steam supply being inadvertently or otherwise shut off, will
automatically enable the steering gear to be worked by hand.
.
In carrying out our invention we employ the usual steering wheel on the shaft
of which we place a pinion which can be moved longitudinally thereon by means of
a specially constructed double clutch arrangement. This consists of an incline and
a straight surface on either end of the boss of the sliding pinion, the said inclines
bear against corresponding inclines placed on the steering wheel shaft in such a
manner that, if the steering wheel be turned, the pinion will be moved either fore
or aft, according to the direction in which the wheel is turned. For instance, if
the wheel be turned to "port," the inclines at one end of the pinion will operate,
and if the wheel be turned to "starboard" the inclines on the other end of the
pinion will be operated; the extent of the sliding motion of the pinion is limited by
the above named straight surfaces thereof coming into contact with corresponding
straight surfaces on the steering wheel shaft.
The sliding pinion is coupled to a valve which governs the admission of steam to
the steam cylinders of the ordinary steering engine so as to allow of reversing
the same,
'
J.
The sliding pinion is constantly in gear with a spur wheel, the shaft, of which
carries a drum or chain wheel operating chains passing to the quadrant or tiller in
the usual manner. With the said spur wheel two other pinions also engage, each
on a crank shaft receiving motion from the steering engine
"
From this arrangement it will be evident that the movement of the steering
wheel from its midship position to either "port or "starboard" will cause the
sliding pinion to move the valve so as to admit the steam to cause the steering
engine to run in the required direction, but should the supply of steam be
inadvertently shut off, or otherwise cease, during any position of the steering
gear, the continued turning of the wheel by the steersman in either direction
will bring one or other of the hereinbefore described set of straight surfaces in
contact, whereby the steering gear will be operated direct from the steering wheel,
thereby automatically becoming a hand steering gear.
The pinion instead of sliding on the shaft as above named may be placed on a
sliding sleeve in which case the inclined and straight surfaces are formed on the
said sleeve instead of on the bosses of the pinion
Instead of the above named double clutch arrangement equivalent means may
be employed such as a screw and nut or a pin and slotted sleeve arrangement, the
nut or the sleeve operating the valve governing the steam supply; should the
steam supply fail or cease the continued turning of the steering wheel in the manner
hereinbefore described will bring one or the other end of the nut or of the sleeve in
contact with a collar or shoulder on the steering wheel shaft and the steering gear
will be operated direct from the steering wheel. Or in some cases the sliding
pinion may be operated by toggles or levers.
Provision is also made for disconnecting the pinions on the above named crank
shafts in cases where it may be required to steer by manual power alone.

page_text: In order to enable our invention to be fully understood we will proceed to
describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawings in which figure 1,
sheet 1, is a front end view of a steering gear for ships constructed according to
our invention; figure 2, sheet 1, is a sectional side elevation and figure 3, sheet 2,
a plan of the same; figures 4, to 11, are detached views of parts of the gear;
figure 12, sheet 1, is a part sectional side elevation showing means of connecting to
a vertical shaft for steering from the bridge; figures 13, 14, 15 and 16, sheet 2, are
views of the inclined surfaces or planes and pinions when the pinion does not slide ;
figure 17, view shewing the pin and slotted sleeve arrangement; figure 18, shews
the screw and nut arrangement and figures 19, and 20 shew the arrangement for
operating the mechanism by toggles or levers. Similar letters in all the figures
represent similar or corresponding parts.
a, is the main barrel of the steering gear to which the chains from the tiller are
attached in the usual manner or in place of a barrel we sometimes use a chain
wheel with teeth; b, shews a spur wheel attached to the barrel a; into this
wheel b, the pinions c, and c¹, gear, these pinions are driven by the steam engines d,
and d, the engine d, actuating the pinion c, and the engine d', actuating the
pinion c¹, by the connecting rods A A¹ and cranks B, B¹, on the shafts C C¹ of the
pinions c, c¹, in the usual manner; the two otherwise independent engines thus act
upon the spur wheel b,. Upon the upper part of the said wheel b, is geared the
sliding pinion c", mounted upon tlie shaft e, of the usual steering wheel D. The
pinion c²; can be moved longitudinally upon the shaft e, by means of the specially
constructed double clutch arrangement. This consists of the incline g, and the
straight surface g', on either end of the sliding pinion c², the said inclines bear
against the corresponding inclines h, and h¹, placed upon the steering wheel shaft e,.
Figures 9, 10 and 11 are detached views of the sliding pinion and double clutch
arrangement. By this arrangement it will be seen that if the steering wheel D, be
turned in either direction the action will be to make one of the inclines upon the
shaft press against the corresponding incline upon one end of the sliding pinion and
so force the pinion along the shaft longitudinally for instance if the steering
wheel D, is turned to "Port" the inclines at one end of the pinion will operate and
if the steering wheel is turned to "Starboard" the inclines at the other end of the
pinion will operate; the extent of the sliding motion of the pinion is limited by
the above named straight surfaces g', thereof coming into contact with the
corresponding straight surfaces upon the clutches fixed upon the steering wheel
shaft.
The sliding pinion c², is coupled to the steam valve i, which governs the
admission of steam to the two steam cylinders d, and d. This valve i, is so
constructed that it admits the live steam to act upon either one or the other side
of the pistons of the engines as may be required and also to allow of the escape of
the dead or exhaust steam from the other side of the pistons forming the device
known as a reversing valve. In figure 2, the valve is shewn in its normal or mid
position and in the vertical sections at figures 4, and 6, the valve shewn in its
extreme positions; figure 5, is a horizontal section on line B B of figure 2, shewing
the steam and exhaust ports in the connecting piece between the two cylinders d,
and ; figure 8, is a vertical section through the connecting piece and piston
valve also shewing the steam ports. Figure 7, is a section of the piston valve
cylinder.
The sliding pinion is thus constantly in gear with the spur wheel, though
capable of a slight longitudinal movement upon the steering wheel shaft. The
action of the improved steering gear is as follows:
The pinion c², being (as shewn in figure 2) in a mean position between the two
clutches h, h¹, the reversing valve i, is consequently in a mean position also, so
that the steam is shut off from the engines; when however the steering wheel D,
is rotated in one direction the inclined surface of one of the clutches by its rotation,
forces the pinion to slide slightly across the face of the spur wheel b, and as the
sliding pinion c², is connected with the valve is this also moves into the position

page_text: shewn in figure 6, and will thereby admit the steam to the engines causing them
to rotate; as soon as this happens the pinions c, and c¹, which are attached to the
crank shafts C, and C¹, also rotate and as they both gear into the spur wheel b,
this and the barrel a, carrying the steering chains are also rotated, one of the
chains being hauled upon while the other is paid out; as the ends of these chains
are attached to the tiller it will be pulled over in the same direction so long as
the steering wheel D, is rotated but directly the steering wheel D, is stopped the
following action takes place, the steam in rotating the engines also causes the
pinion c², to rotate but this action is at once stopped by the pinion slightly sliding
longitudinally upon its shaft e, by the action of the inclined surface of one of the
clutches; as this pinion acts upon the valve the steam is thus cut off, the valve
and the pinion then retake the mid-position as shewn in figure 2. Thus in action
the movement of this steering wheel D, opens the valve and admits steam and
starts the engines but directly the engines move, the spur wheel b, partially rotates
the pinion c, which sliding longitudinally cuts off the supply of steam and stops
the engine, should the steering wheel be continuously revolved then the engines
continue their revolution till the steering wheel is stopped, or should the steering
wheel be revolved in the opposite direction then the engines are also reversed.
From this construction it will be seen that if there is only a light strain to be
overcome the valve is only slightly opened admitting just enough steam to over-
come the resistance; should there be however a very heavy strain, then the valve
is fully opened, as in figures 4, and 6, and in an extreme case in which this is not
sufficient, then by continuing the motion of the steering wheel by band, this hand
power will be exerted in addition to the power of the steam. Should the steam
supply suddenly cease or be inadvertently cut off, the man at the wheel still has
control of the gear and continues to steer as before without having his attention
distracted at such a critical moment by having to throw any clutch or coupling
out of gear, all he knows of the matter is that he feels the greater work he has to
do when deprived of the assistance of the steam, he can then at his leisure dis-
connect the engines by means of the lever j, and the gear becomes a hand steering
gear alone. Figure 12, shews a means of working the gear from the bridge
or other convenient position. For this purpose a pair of bevil wheels k, k',
communicate the motion from any other steering wheels through the shaft e¹.
Figures 13, 14, 15 and 16, are detached views in which the pinion c², instead of
sliding on the shaft e, as above described is placed on a sliding sleeve l, the
inclined and straight surfaces in this case being formed on the said sleeve l,
instead of on the bosses of the pinion. In this arrangement the pinion is shrouded
on both sides to fit the main spur wheel b. The sleeve l, is made of any suitable
metal and is caused to slide within the pinion by means of the inclines.
Figure 17, is a view of a pin and slot arrangement for effecting the longitudinal
sliding movement of the pinion which we sometimes employ in place of the double
clutch arrangement hereinbefore described-m, m³, are two angular slots in the
boss of the pinion; n, is a pin passing through a slot in the shaft. By this
arrangement it will be obvious that the rotation of the shaft e, in either direction
will cause the pinion to slide thereon the fixed collars acting as stops in a manner
similar to the herein before described straight surfaces.
Figure 18 shews a screw and nut arrangement for producing the longitudinal
movement of the pinion c³, and which will be understood without further
description.
Figures 19, and 20 shew the arrangement we sometimes employ for effecting
the longitudinal sliding movement of the pinion c³, by means of toggles or small
levers o, o,.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:-
Firstly. The herein described improved steam steering gear for ships constructed
and arranged so that in the event of the steam supply being inadvertently or

page_text: otherwise cut off the action of steering can be maintained by continuing the
motion of the steering wheel by hand substantially as hereinbefore described and
represented in figures 1 to 11 of the accompanying drawings.
Secondly. In a steering gear for ships the double clutch arrangement consisting
of the combination of inclined and straight surfaces arranged and operating as and
for the purpose hereinbefore described and represented in figures 1, 2, 3, 9, 10
and 11 of the accompanying drawings.
Thirdly. The modified construction of the double clutch arrangement. as herein-
before described and represented in figures 13, 14, 15 and 16, of the accompanying
drawings.
Fourthly. The pin and slot arrangement for operating the sliding pinion as
herein before described and represented in figure 17, of the accompanying drawings.
Fifthly. The screw and nut arrangement for operating the sliding pinion as
hereinbefore described and represented in figure 18 of the accompanying drawings.
Sixthly. The arrangement for operating the sliding pinion by means of toggles
or small levers as hereinbefore described and represented in figures 19 and 20 of
the accompanying drawings.
In witness whereof I the said William Horatio Harfield for and on behalf of
myself and the said George Thomas Burden have hereto set my hand and seal this
twelfth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
eighty four.