IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING AND FOR STEERING SCREW STEAMERS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Phillips Thompson, of the British and Inter-
national Patent and Trademark Office, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
OR RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING AND FOR STEERING SCREW
STEAMERS." A communication from abroad by James Henry Carpenter, of
the City, County, and State of New York.
| Sealed the 15th June 1877, and dated the 27th April 1877.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Phillips Thompson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th April 1877.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of the British and International Patent and
Trademark Office, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Con-
sulting Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR PRO-
PELLING AND FOR STEERING SCREW STEAMERS." A communication from abroad by
James Henry Carpenter, of the City, County, and State of New York.
The object of my Invention is to arrange a screw propeller in a strong and
simple manner, so that while driven from an engine shaft located as usual in the
hold of the vessel, it may be swung laterally to aid in steering the vessel, and also
adjusted vertically, as the changing draft of the vessel may reuder expedient. And
to this end the Invention consists in mounting the screw in a metal frame, which
has a swinging motion about a vertical axis, and which is also capable of a vertical
adjustment, and in driving the screw thus mounted from the engine shaft by means
of an intermediate adjustable shaft and universal couplings. The Invention also
consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of various details, as herein-
after more fully explained.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section through the stern of a vessel
provided with my improved devices; Figure 2, a horizontal section of the same on
the line xx; Figure 3, a horizontal section of the same on the line y―y.
A represents the hull of the vessel; and B the screw propeller, secured upon a
short horizontal shaft, which latter has its two ends seated in rigid bearings in a
heavy metal frame C. This frame C is made, as shown, in one rigid piece, with
two upright arms or standards a and b, between which the screw stands, and in
which the bearings for the screw shaft are formed. The front arm a of the frame
Price I

page_text: is made of a round form and seated in bearings e attached firmly to the stern of
the vessel, so that it forms an axis or center on which the frame can swing laterally,
so as to present the screw obliquely, in order that it may aid in steering and
turning the vessel. The arm a is also arranged so that it may slide vertically in
its bearings, in order that the frame may be raised and lowered to maintain the
proper submergence of the screw, as the draft of the vessel is varied by changes in
the amount of its load. The arms a and b of the frame are both extended upward
into or through the vessel, and have their upper ends provided with screw threads
and sustaining nuts c¹, as shown, so that by turning the nuts the frame and the
screw may be raised or lowered as required.
In order to permit the lateral movement of the arm bas the frame swings on its
axis, a curved slot is made in the vessel, as shown; and in order to avoid friction,
and admit of the frame being moved easily, the sustaining nuts c² are supported on
n carriage D, which has one end pivoted on the arm a as a center, and the other
end sustained by wheels d which ride on a curved track or rail.
In order to secure the equal and simultaneous adjustment of the two sustaining
nuts C they are formed with gear teeth, or secured to pinions, and connected by an
intermediate pinion g, as shown.
For the purpose of operating the sustaining nuts from the upper deck, when they
are located between decks, a tubular shaft h is attached to the nut on the pivotal
arm a and connected with a turn post E on the upper deck, as shown, so that the
screw may be raised and lowered by means of said post.
For the purpose of driving the screw I employ a vertically adjustable shaft F
passing through a gated vertical slot in the stern, and connected at its ends by
universal couplings H to the screw shaft and the engine shaft G respectively, as
shown, the engine shaft being located as usual in the hold of the vessel. "The
couplings consist, as shown, each of a metal ball embraced by two pair of curved
arms, which latter are formed on the ends of the shafts and provided with slots,
which receive studs or ears on the ball. The couplings thus constructed are at
once cheap and strong, casy in their motion, and free from liability to be disabled:
by objects floating in the water. They also permit a slight longitudinal play of
the intermediate shaft, so that it can expand and contract and adapt itself to the
varying distance between the screw and the engine shafts, which results from the
vertical adjustment of the screw.
The steering gear may be connected directly to the carriage D by which the:
crew carrying frame is sustained, or to the frame itself in any suitable manner.
When preferred, the screw alone may be used to steer the vessel, but ordinarily
I prefer to provide the front arm a of the frame c with one or two rudders I, as
shown, so that when the screw is turned to one side the rudder will be thrown
outward on the opposite side. The rudder thus arranged to swing outward takes
a firm hold on the water, and directs the same toward the screw in such manner as
to materially increase the efficiency of its action. The gate or slide K at the stern
through which the shaft F passes may be constructed in any suitable manner, gates
of a similar character being common and well known.
Although it is preferred to use the rear arm of the frame C in the manner
shown to form a second support for the frame and relieve the arm the latter may
be made to sustain the frame alone, in which case the arın b need not be extended
up within the vessel. When the arm b is to assist in sustaining the frame, but the
slot in the vessel therefor is considered objectionable, the upper end of the arm may
be sustained by a curved track or frame secured under the stern of the vessel on the
outside of the same.
Instead of making the frame in the form shown. it may be modified as circum-
stances may require, provided the vertical and lateral adjustability is retained, and
the proper bearings afforded therein for the ends of the screw shaft. Instead of
threading the arms of the frame, and mounting the nuts directly thereon, racks
may be swiveled to the arms and pinions arranged to engage therein for the purpose
of raising and lowering the same.

page_text: As shown in the Drawings, the entire thrust of the screw is received directly by
the frame, in consequence of which the universal joints operate with ease and
smoothness, and without cramping, when the position of the screw is changed.
In order to give the screw shaft a proper bearing in the frame it may have a series
of rings or collars on one or both ends seated in corresponding grooved bearings in
the frame, or any other suitable arrangement may be used.
The essential and important features of the Invention are giving the screw-
carrying frame the vertical and the lateral adjustability, and driving the screw
thus mounted from the usual engine shaft in the hold.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim is,-
1st. A screw propeller mounted substantially as shown and described, so that it
may be swung laterally and adjusted vertically.
2nd. A screw propeller B in combination with a sustaining frame C, having an
axial arm a and a rear supporting arın b, substantially as shown.
3rd. The swinging screw-carrying frame provided with the threaded arm a and b,
and nuts c¹, and mounted and arranged to operate substantially as shown.
4th. In combination with a vessel A a screw-carrying frame C, provided with a
fulcrum arm a and a rear sustaining arm b supported by a wheeled carriage, sub-
stantially as shown.
5th. In combination with the laterally and vertically adjustable screw-carrying
frame C one or more rudders I attached thereto, as shown.
6th. The combination of the frame C and pinion nuts c¹, the wheeled carriage D,
substantially as shown.
7th. The combination of a vertically adjustable screw mounted in permanently
horizontal bearings, an engine shaft located in the hold of the vessel, and a con-
necting shaft passing through a slide in the stern of the vessel, and connected at
its ends by universal joints to the screw and the engine shafts respectively, sub-
stantially as shown.
8. A vertically adjustable and laterally swinging screw propeller, connected with
and driven by a horizontal engine shaft in the hold of the vessel, substantially as
shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Phillips Thompson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteeth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
EDWARD G. COLTON,
Patent Office,
6, Lord Street,
L'pool.
W. P. THOMPSON. (L.S.)