AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MACHINERY FOR COMMUNICATING MOTION FROM STEAM ENGINES OR OTHER MOTIVE POWER, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RUDDERS FOR VESSELS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JONATHAN
GRINDROD, of Birkenhead, in the County of Chester, Consulting Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of
August, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fifteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Jonathan Grindrod, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Jonathan
Grindrod, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Jonathan Grindrod, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in
all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MACHINERY FOR COMMUNICATING MOTION FROM STEAM
ENGINES OR OTHER MOTIVE POWER, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RUDDERS FOR
VESSELS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said Jonathan Grindrod, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by

page_text: an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and im-
mediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Jonathan Grindrod, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Firstly, my improvement in the machinery for communicating motion from
a steam engine or other motive power consists in a new arrangement of the
parts of the mechanical movement well known as the sun and planet motion,
with certain additions thereto, by which new arrangement and additions the
shaft to which the engine power is to be communicated may at pleasure be
either made to revolve at the same speed as the engine shaft, or at a greater
speed, which will be found of especial advantage and economy in the case of
screw and paddle-wheel steamers, and of locomotive engines, and other
machines requiring a greater speed than that first given off from the motive or
original power, since the required speed of the propelling instruments, may be
obtained with a moderate velocity of the steam piston. Figure 1 is a front
elevation; Figure 2, a longitudinal section; and Figure 3, a cross section on
the line a, b, of Figure 1, shewing these appliances adapted to a line of screw
propeller shafting. A, A, are the bearings for the shafts G and g, of which
the latter one g is immediately connected to the engine by the crank B, and
is therefore going at the same speed as the engine, while the other shaft G is
made to rotate at an increased speed, making double the number of revolutions
of the shaft g, or, when required, any other proportionate number of revo-
lutions or portions of a revolution of increase, which increase is determined by
the relative or proportionate sizes of the sun and planet wheels. The increase
of speed thus communicated to the latter shaft is caused by means of the
following arrangements:-B² is a crank which is keyed fast to the shaft g;
B' is another crank, which is slipped loosely over the end of the shaft G, upon
which it is free to turn round; the two cranks B and B are connected
together by a crank pin, upon which there is loosely mounted a toothed
wheel E, which gears into another toothed wheel D, keyed fast upon the end
of the shaft G. F is a connecting rod, the upper end of which slides within
the guides I, I; the lower end of this rod is firmly connected by lugs and bolts
to the boss of the wheel E, by which that wheel is kept from revolving when

page_text: the cranks B', B³, or the shafts G, g, revolve. The effect produced by the
wheel E being kept in this position by the connecting rod is, that the shaft G
is caused to make two revolutions for every one made by the shaft g. The
number of revolutions thus communicated to the shaft G may be encreased
or they may be lessened to any extent, even to a portion of a revolution,
as above mentioned, the rate of encrease always depending upon the relative
sizes of the wheels employed. C is a bearing strap, two separate views of
which are given in Figures 4 and 5; the strap serves to lessen the strain
thrown upon the end of the shaft G and upon the crank pin by the wheel
gearing. Figures 6, 7, and 8 shew another method of securing the lower
end of the connecting rod to the boss of the wheel E. In this instance the
boss is prolonged beyond the face of the wheel upon one side, and this
prolongation has one portion e¹ cylindrical, for the reception of the bearing
strap C, while the other and outer portion e is formed into a square which
takes into a corresponding boss or opening f, f, formed in the end of the
connecting rod. Land K are two discs which form a coupling between
the crank B' and the shaft G. This coupling is employed when it is desired
that both the shafts G and g should revolve together at the same speed, at
which time the discs L and K are connected together by the pin M, and the
connecting rod F is disengaged from the hold of the wheel E. Figures 9,
10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 shew several methods of applying the mechanical
arrangement above described to the transference of the power from the steam
cylinders to the driving wheels of locomotive engines. Figure 9 shews them
applied inside of the locomotive frame. The engine connecting rod is attached
to the two wheels E, E, which are loose upon the crank pin H, and the two
wheels D, D, are keyed to the shafts or axles G, G, of the driving wheels,
while the cranks B, B, are loose upon the shafts, the effect of which disposition.
of the parts is, that both of the shafts G, G, and consequently the driving
wheels of the locomotive, make two revolutions for every revolution of the
cranks (supposing the diameters of the wheels E and D to be equal). Figure 10
is an end elevation of a pair of locomotive driving wheels fitted with these
appliances for giving a double speed to them, the power being applied outside
of the wheels N, N. A, A, are the bearings or journals. G is the axle of the
driving wheels, upon which the wheels D, D, are securely fixed, while the
cranks B', B', are free to revolve thercon. The power of the engines is applied
wheels E, E. The arrangements
by connecting rods to the bosses of the
exemplified by this Figure (Figure 10) are nearly the same as those already.
explained in reference to Figure 1, differing only in the power being applied,
to both ends of the shaft. Figures 11 and 12 shew a mode of affixing the

page_text: connecting rods of locomotive engines to the wheel E, which is similar to that
before explained in reference to Figures 6, 7, and 8. Figures 13 and 14 are
a side elevation and cross section of the arrangement shewn in Figure 9, the
only difference being that friction pulleys or drums E, E, and D; D, are employed
instead of the toothed wheel gearing for transmitting the power from the
engine to the axle of the driving wheels.
Secondly, my improvements in the rudders of vessels has for its object the
so constructing and disposing of them that they shall be much less liable to be
unshipped or injured by the vessel striking the ground than rudders of the
ordinary construction. Figure 15 is a side elevation; Figure 16, a stern
elevation; and Figure 17, a sectional plan taken upon the load water line of a
vessel fitted with this improvement. A, A, are the rudders, of which there are
two, one placed on each' side of the stern post B, which is slightly recessed for
their accommodation, and projects a few inches beyond the after or free edge
of the rudder. One of the rudders is brought into action when the vessel is to
be carried round to starboard, and the other when she is to be carried round
to port. They are provided with a 'proper lever apparatus on deck, so that
they may be worked in conjunction or separately. Figure 15 shews the position
of the rudder on the starboard side. In Figure 16 the rudder is shewn in
action, the other or port rudder being out of action. In Figure 17 both rudders
are represented as being out of action. When this improved rudder apparatus
is applied to a screw-propeller vessel, it enables the builder to make a more
perfect vessel, there being no aperture required in the dead wood' for either the
propeller or for the rudder, by which means the vessel is not only rendered
stronger, but the propeller can be placed in its most favorable position.
Moreover, the run of the vessel can be made fine or clean (as it is termed), by
which the propeller works in a more solid and less disturbed body of water, and
therefore causes less vibration to be produced in the vessel.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is,-
First, the improved arrangement for communicating an increased speed from
the engine to the propeller shaft of screw and paddle-wheel propelled vessels,
in so far as respects the combination of the sun and planet motion (the parts
thereof being newly arranged), with the cranks B', B, the bearing strap C, and
the guide rod F, as before described.
Second, the several modifications of the arrangements first herein claimed
when applied to locomotive engines and other machinery, as also herein-beforé
exemplified and described.

page_text: And, third, the employment of two rudders placed alongside of the stern post
f the vessel, and fitted in manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jonathan Grindrod, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.