IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS POR STEERING VESSELS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS POR STEERING VESSELS."-A communication from abroad by
E. N. Dickerson, of Park Row, New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 13th March 1860, and dated the 21st October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st October 1859.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEERING VESSELS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for steering
vessels. For this purpose, a barrel which works the tiller ropes is connected.
by a friction clutch with an axis, having a cog wheel keyed on it; into this
cog wheel a pinion gears, having on its axis a crank, which is coupled with the
piston rods of two steam cylinders. In a line with the axis worked by the
steam cylinders, there is another axis, having on it a crank to which are con-
nected the valve rods for working the valves of the steam cylinders, on this
axis there is a pinion into which a cog wheel gears, and on the axis of this cog
wheel there is a hand wheel for working the valves of the engines, so as to cause
the steam engines to rotate, the barrel working the tiller ropes in one or other
direction. This is effected in the following manner :-On the end of the axis

page_text: which works the valves, there is a projecting arm, and on the end of the
cranked axis worked by the steam engines there are two projecting pins.
When it is desired that the engines shall be kept at rest, the projecting arm on
the valve shaft is set by the hand wheel midway between the pins carried by
the crauk axis of the steam engines; the piston in one of the cylinders will
then be at the end of its stroke in one direction, and it will be held in this
position by the pressure of the steam on it; when it is desired to start the
engine, the
arm on the valve shaft is moved up into contact with one or other
of the pins on the crank shaft, according to the direction in which the engines
are desired to turn; this motion of the valve shaft sets the valves so as to start
the engines and cause them to turn, so as to tend to separate the pin on the
engine shaft from the arm on the valve shaft, and if it be desired that the
engines shall continue to work, this separation must be prevented, by causing
the valve shaft to revolve by means of the hand wheel, at the same speed as
the engine shaft. Other fluids may be used for, working the engines in place
of steam, if thought desirable.
It will be seen in this arrangement that the rudder is worked by engines
having valves so arranged and connected with a hand wheel (or it may be
other instrument) that the rudder will, by the power of the engines, be moved
and stopped with the motion and rest of the hand of the helmsman.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom

page_text: of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEERING VESSELS," a communi-
cation from abroad by E. N. Dickerson, of Park Row, New York, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The objection of this Invention is to subject the rudder of a ship to the power
of an engine worked by steam or other fluid in such a manner that the rudder
will obey the motion of the hand of the helmsman, moving when it moves, and
stopping when it stops, without requiring any greater expenditure of power
by the helmsman than sufficient to operate the valves of the engines employed;
however great may be the power required to work or hold the rudder.
The accompanying Drawing exhibits the working parts of a complete
steering apparatus constructed on this principle, the frames, bearings, and con-
necting rods being omitted for clearness, and the different parts being removed
further from each other than necessary, in order not to confuse the Drawing.
G is the barrel of an ordinary fixed steering apparatus, to which the wheels of
common use may be supposed to be attached; H is a clutch of any con-
venient form, which may be unlocked at pleasure, leaving the ordinary steering.
wheel to be operated as is usual, by hand if so desired; F is a cog wheel,
operated by a pinion fixed to the shaft E, which is driven through a crank by
the pistons of a pair of engines worked by steam, air, or other compressed
fluid, the cylinders of which are marked D. The main cog wheel F should be
connected to the barrel shaft by a friction clutch of any of the ordinary forms,
which can be set to communicate any degree of power which they may have
from the engines to the rudder that may be required, and to stop when the
resistance becomes greater than the machine is set for. A is the wheel which.
the helmsman operates, and which may be placed anywhere in the ship most
convenient for steering. Any other formed instrument which a man can
handle may be substituted, so that it can operate the valves. B is a cog wheel
connected with the hand wheel A, so as to move with it, which, through a

page_text: pinion, drives the valve shaft C. The valve shaft may be driven without
gearing, but for the sake of speed it is preferred. M, M, are cranks (or an
excentric), which operate the valves of the ordinary construction in the
chests N, N. These valves ought to be balanced so as to work easily. J is
an arm fixed to the valve shaft C, at right angles to the cranks M, M, whose
office it is to prevent the motion of the valve shaft C further than a half
revolution, which it does by striking the stops K, K, firmly secured to the
main shaft E through the crank pin, and set in the same plane with the centre
line of the crank and the axis of the shaft E. The location and arrangement
of this stop mechanism may be changed, so long as the relation here shown,
substantially is preserved between the valves, pistons, and stops.
cylinders D, D, are at right angles with each other on this Drawing and plan
of construction.
The
As the machine here shown stands with steam on the valves, it is evident.
that it will not move without some change in the position of the valves,
because the lower port of the cylinder nearer the observer is wide open, and
that piston is held firmly at the upper end of the cylinder while at the same
time neither steam port on the further cylinder is open, and the exhaust cover
being cut out longer than the distance between the inside edges of the steam'
ports, both ends of the cylinder are exhausted of steam; nor can the rudder
move without driving the engine against the pressure of the steam or slipping
the friction clutch, so that in this position everything will remain till the valves
are moved.
When it is desired to move the rudder the man moves the wheel A, which
rotates the shaft C, the effect of which is to open one of the steam ports of the
further cylinder, and partially to close the lower steam port of the near
cylinder. When the valves have moved thus far the engines will begin to
move and will continue to move as long as the wheel A is turned. When
that wheel stops the engines will stop, a small part of the stroke then being
made, and in whatever position their motion is arrested they will be ready to
move in either direction in which the valve shaft is moved by the helmsman,
as above described.
It is evident from the foregoing description that the form and position of
these various parts may be indefinitely changed, that the engines may be of
any known form, and worked by any fluid other than steam, while at the same
time the machine would contain the principle and mode of operation here
shown.
What I claim herein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,
operating the rudder of a vessel by means of an engine, driven by steam or

page_text: 5
other fluid, having its valves so arranged and connected with a wheel or other
moveable contrivance that the rudder will, by the power of such engine, be
moved and stopped with the motion and rest of the hand of the helmsman,
substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.B.)