IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS
Year: 1862

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Amherst Hawker Renton and
Edward Cottam, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 25th March 1862.
We, AMHERST HAWKER RENTON, of 14, Royal Avenue Terrace, Chelsea, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, and EDWARD COTTAM, of Pimlico,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, (of the firm of Robinson & Cottam,)
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR STEERING SHIPS," to be as follows:-
Our improvements in apparatus for steering ships, relate to apparatus for
moving the rudder or rudders of ships, and consist in applying the power to a
tiller or other lever, (which is usually attached to the rudder head) by means
of a bydraulic cylinder and piston of a particular construction, and also in
actuating the same by means of pumps or cylinders, and pistons driven or
worked by steam or other agent as convenience and circumstances may suggest,
and this we effect sometimes by employing manual labour, and at other times
the agency of steam or other motor to inject the water into the main cylinder,
the quantity of water so injected being regulated by valves or cocks moved by
the steersman with fitting and suitable hand gear, and we further employ a
weighted cylinder and piston for the purpose of regulating the pressure of the
water and for producing when desired an instantaneous movement of the main
cylinder or piston as the one or the other is made moveable. In applying the
bydraulic cylinder and piston to the tiller, we prefer in most cases to fix the

page_text: piston in a frame which we attach securely to the most convenient part of the
ship's stern and deck, and on which we cause the cylinder to slide freely to
and fro to suit the movement of the rudder, for which purpose we make the
piston rod hollow (the piston being in the middle of the length) and introduce
the water at each end of it, so that the motion of the cylinder will be towards
the opposite end (of the cylinder) from which the water is permitted to escape
by opening a valve or cock, the water entering at the opposite end by opening
a similar valve or cock, which establishes a communication with the regulating
cylinder by an intermediate pipe, the motion being always proportional to the
quantity of water discharged from the main cylinder. In the event of the
water being retained in both ends of the cylinder by closing the inlet and outlet
valves or cocks at the same time no motion would ensue, but the rudder would
remain locked in whatever position it may have been placed, and by opening a
valve or cock, and permitting the water to escape from either end of the
cylinder, the movement of the tiller in the opposite direction will be the con-
sequence, and is checked only by closing the valve or cock. At the same time
that the water is permitted to escape from one end of the cylinder the commu-
nication must be opened between the regulator and the other end of the
cylinder, so that the pressure of the water may be exerted simultaneously with
the discharge, and in order to prevent any sudden concussion upon the apparatus
the inlet valve or cock should invariably be opened before the discharge valve
or cock, so that the pressure may be brought upon one end of the main cylinder
before the pressure is discharged from the other. The regulator thus effects
an instantaneous and uniform action of the rudder, and we prefer that it should
contain two to four charges of the main cylinder in order that a succession of
rapid movements of the rudder may be made independently of the injecting
pumps. In some cases we entirely dispense with the ordinary injecting pumps
except as auxiliary appendages, in which case we apply the motive power
directly to the regulator which we construct particularly for the purpose, either
with a moveable cylinder or piston or cylinders or pistons. Either of these
we move by steam or other motor in a cylinder attached thereto in such manner
that the pressure shall always if necessary be on the regulator, so that when
the inlet and outlet valves or cocks communicating with the main cylinder
are opened the movement of the main cylinder takes place. As in every such
case the regulator is constructed by preference with two cylinders and pistons
or their equivalent, one double-acting cylinder and piston (of similar construction
to that described for the hydraulic or main cylinder for moving the tiller,) a
uniform pressure is maintained, for during the time in which one, cylinder or
piston is making its stroke and discharging its water into the main cylinder,

page_text: the other cylinder or piston is admitting water and being charged ready for
the alternate stroke. As it is advisable in all cases to place the regulators
beneath the surface of the water in which the ship floats, that (in war vessels)
it may be out of the way of shot, and near to the engine boilers from which it
may draw its steam power. Facility is thus given for the water to flow
spontaneously into the regulator without any expenditure of power, as it will
simply follow the retrograde motion of the one or the other of the pistons or
cylinders and will thus be charged ready for the return stroke, in fact performing
the office of a steam pump. By this arrangement the many tons of weights
which would be rendered necessary in an ordinary pressure regulator and 'the
consequent inconvenient carriage and stowage on board ship is obviated. The
manipulation of the apparatus is also greatly simplified, for the steersman will
by these means have the entire control of the whole apparatus and render the
attention of a special attendant on the injecting gear quite superfluous. It
also possesses the advantage of a graduated pressure, so that the power may be
made to accommodate the exact resistance of the rudder. Where it is desirable
to retain the pressure on the regulator and at the same time to avoid the
consequent condensation of the steam, we cause the pipe of communication
from the steam cylinder to the boiler to be connected with the lower part
instead of with the steam chest of the boiler, and thereby permit water at
the lowest temperature of the boiler to enter the cylinder and to press upon
the piston instead of steam, the steam in the boiler exerting its force and
elasticity upon the surface of the water beneath it and through its agency
upon the piston of the regulator. These arrangements of parts separately and
in combination constitute our improved apparatus for steering ships.