IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING SHIPS OB VESSELS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Elder, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar,
North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING SHIPS OB
VESSELS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 20th October 1865, and dated the 25th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Elder at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
April 1865.
I, WILLIAM ELDER, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEERING SHIPS OR VESSELS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH," to be as follows, that is to say:—
This Invention has for its object the means of steering ships by machinery,
actuated by means of a piston working in a cylinder, which piston is moved
preferably by steam, although water, compressed air, or other suitable medium
for producing pressure may also be used. The cylinder is arranged upon a
sole plate, which carries all the gear of the machine, and is arranged trans-
versely on the deck, gangway, hurricane deck, poop, engine room, lower deck,
or other convenient part of the ship, and the piston rod passes through both
ends of the cylinder, to each end of which chains are attached, which pass
over sheaves or pulleys situated at the extreme outside traverse of the rods,
and their other ends being turned back to midships pass each other in separate

page_text: grooves over the driving wheel, and are each made fast thereto; this driving
wheel is mounted upon a short shaft lying at right angles to the cylinder, and
which shaft is about the middle of and at one side of the cylinder; close
beside the driving wheel on same shaft is fitted the break and steering wheel
of larger diameter, which is furnished with three grooves, one of which is to
contain the break strap, which can be tightened more or less, or released
altogether at pleasure instantaneously by the slightest move of the steersman's
foot; the purpose of this break is to have a slipping or frictional command of
holding the rudder in any weather; the other two grooves are for receiving
the port and starboard chains, which are separately made fast thereto, the
other ends of which are led off in the usual way to the compensating tiller
on the rudder head, or intermediate shaft in such manner that when the piston
moves in the cylinder its motion is communicated to the rudder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Elder in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th
October 1865..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ELDER, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Elder, Her special license that I, the said William Elder, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Elder,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agreo 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 of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING
SHIPS OR VESSELS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Elder, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said William Elder, do hereby declaro
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being bad to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention has for its object the means of steering ships by
machinery actuated by means of a piston working in a cylinder, which piston
is moved preferably by steam, although water, compressed air, or other
suitable medium for producing pressure may also be used. The cylinder is
arranged upon a sole plate, which carries all the gear of the machine, and is
arranged transversely on the deck, gangway, burricane deck, poop, engine-
room, lower deck, or any other convenient part of the ship, and the piston
rod passes through both ends of the cylinder, to each end of which chains
are attached, which pass over sheaves or pulleys situated at the extreme
traverse of the rods, and their other ends being turned back to midships pass
each other in separate grooves over the driving wheel, and are each made fast
thereto; this driving wheel is mounted upon a short shaft lying at right angles
to the cylinder, and which shaft is at about the middle of one side of the
cylinder; close beside the driving wheel on same shaft is fitted the break and
steering wheel of larger diameter, which is furnished with three grooves, one
of which is to contain the break strap, which can be tightened more or less
or released altogether at pleasure instantaneously by the slightest move of the
steersman's foot; the purpose of this break is to have a slipping or frictional
command of holding the rudder in any weather. The other two grooves are
for receiving the port and starboard chains, which are separately made fast
thereto, the other ends of which are led off' in the usual way to the compen-
sating tiller on the rudder head, or intermediate shaft in such manner that
when the piston moves in the cylinder its motion is communicated to the rudder.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood 1 shall
now proceed to describe the system, mode, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or carried into effect, reference being had to the
several Figures upon the two explanatory Sheets of Drawings, which I have
hereunto appended, and in which similar parts are indicated by corresponding
letters of reference, that is to say :-
Figure 1, on Sheet 1, represents a side elevation of a steering apparatus
constructed according to my Invention, and fixed on the deck of a ship, part
of the latter being also shown in side elevation in the same Figure.
Figure 2 is a plan of the arrangement shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 being
a sectional plan on line A, A, Figure 1, and shows the arrangement of steering

page_text: gear situated below the water line, by means of which the rudder may receive
its motion in the event of the upper part of the same getting damaged in
any way, which especially might be the case with ships of war.
The Figures on Sheet 2 represent several parts of the apparatus drawn to a
larger scale, and which are herein-after more particularly referred to.
It will be seen at Figures 1 and 2 that the whole steering gear, including
the driving apparatus, is placed on the quarter-deck of a ship, which however
is not the only possible position, as the whole arrangement or part of the
same may be situated in any lower position of a ship's compartments or decks,
and the driving apparatus may be placed in the gangway, hurricane deck,
poop, engine-rooms, or at any other convenient part and place of the ship.
Having thus mentioned how my steering arrangements can be placed
on board a ship, I shall now proceed to describe the construction of the several
parts of which the same consists. The sole plate of the driving apparatus,
which I prefer to make of metal, but which can be also made and constructed
of other material, and properly fixed to the ship, is marked A in the Drawings,
and can either have the form as shown at these, or any other more convenient
and preferable construction.
The general parts of the driving apparatus consist of the cylinder B, with
steam chest and valve box C, the piston D (Figure 2, Sheet 2), with its rod
on both sides, a and a', thus forming a piston rod at both ends of the cylinder;
further, the two sheaves or pulleys E, E', serving as guides for the pitch
chains C, C', which are fastened with their one end to the piston rods, and
with the other to a driving wheel J. This wheel is fixed on a shaft G placed
at right angles to and on the one side of the cylinder, and communicates its
motion received by the chains C, C', to the break and steering wheel II fixed
on the same shaft. To this wheel H, the one end of each of two chains C, C¹,
is fastened, while the other stands in communication with the compensating
tiller I, which is fixed into the head of the rudder R, so that whenever the
wheel H is put in motion it communicates the same in a proportion to the
rudder, as the size of tiller is to the wheel H. The manner in which motion is
communicated to this is by making the piston D travel backward and forward
in the cylinder B, which may be effected by means of steam, atmospheric, water,
or any other pressure; but preferring to use steam as a propelling power, I
shall describe the mode and manner in which I effect the necessary move-
ment of the piston rod by the same.
Instead of having eccentric gear to give the slide valve its respective motion,
- as is usually the case by steam engines, I communicate this motion by working
the handle d, the shaft or axle of which e passes through the valve box, Figure 2,

page_text: Sheet 2, and has got a small crank fattached to it, which by means of a pin
is in contact with the upper part of the slide valve, as shown in that Figure.
I prefer to let the pin work at the centre of the valve, and to make the valve
base so broad that the part on the one side balances the surplus weight, which
is effected by the steam pressure on the piece g, in which the pin works. I
also prefer to let the steam ports enter the cylinder at its lowest part, by
which means I can dispense with testing cocks at the end of the cylinder to
let the condensed steam away, as the water will be pressed out through the
exhaust pipe by the motion of the piston in the cylinder. The slido valve
is constructed as usual, and by moving the handle d towards port or starboard
side the steam, which can be let into the valve box through the steam
pipe h, enters the cylinder by that steam port which is opened by the motion
of the handle, so that by moving the handle to and fro the piston will work
backwards and forwards. This motion of the piston is communicated to
the driving wheel F by means of the two chains b, b', part of which I
prefer to make of pitch chain, especially that part which works over the
guiding sheaves or pulleys E, E'; or all the chains used for my steering arrange-
ment may either consist of pitch chain or common chain, or partly of both. The
one end of these chains C, C', is, as already stated, fixed to the ends of the
piston rods, and with the other to a convenient part of the circumference of
the driving wheel, and when these chains respectively are tightened by means
of coupling screws i, i, or by other means, the driving wheel will either turn
the one or the other way, as the piston moves backwards or forwards, and by
thus baving put the driving wheel F in motion the break & steering wheel H
partakes of the same, and communicates it to the rudder by means of chains,
bars, or any other convenient method, and to keep these connecting chains or
bars in their proper place, and to afford as little friction as possible, suitable
sheaves or pulleys may be placed at convenient places and in sufficient
number, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, on Sheet 1, where the sheaves are
marked k. The driving wheel, as well as the break and steering wheel,
have cach two grooves, in which the respective chains, as herein-before
described, work, but the latter mentioned wheel has a third groove, which
contains a break strap lying round the wheel in the groove, and fastened with
its two ends to a shaft 1, Figure 2, Sheet 1, which at the other end is furnished
with a lever mi, placed so low that it may be worked with the foot of the
steersman; but this break may also be constructed so that it can be worked
either by hand, steam, or other power, and of any form and at any place con-
venient for the purpose.
Another part of my Invention consists in the mode or manner in which I

page_text: prefer to construct the compensating tiller, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, on
Sheet 1, but in a larger scale in Figures 3, 4, & 5, on Sheet 2, where
Figure 3 represents a plan, and Figure 4 an end view of the tiller, while
Figure 5 shows the position of the same when worked upon by means of the
steering gear, and brought out of its former midships position. The ends of the
chains C, C¹, being the connecting chains, which are not fastened to the break
and steering wheel II, are fitted each to the end of an arm K or K', which
with their other ends work in a joint at L or 1' of the compensating tiller I.
This compensating tiller is formed as a triangle on the one side of the rudder,
to the head of which it is fastened, whilst the other side is constructed so that
a tiller n, Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 1, may be inserted therein for enabling the
rudder to be actuated by hand if the steering gear should get defective or
damaged. It is generally usual to fix the tiller chains to the middle, as
marked with O, in Figures 3 and 5, Sheet 2, but I prefer to connect them at
the outer points of the base of the triangle, as already mentioned, by which I
effect a double leverage when the rudder is in that position in which the
greater amount of power is required to keep it in the same.
I have already stated that Figure 3, Sheet 1, shows an arrangement by
which the steering can be performed if the upper part of the rudder should
get defective or damaged. This is done by furnishing the rudder with a
sheave or pulley M fixed or cast on to the same, as shown in the Figure, and
placing a similar sheave or pulley N inside the ship at a convenient place, and
fixed to chains with each of their respective ends to the circumference of the
sheaves or pulleys M and N, so that if N is moved, M will be moved in the
same direction. The shaft on which N moves may be prolonged, so that it
can be worked from the upper deck by fixing the compensating tiller on it, or
the connecting chains C, C', may be led down from the break and steering
wheel H, if the driving apparatus is placed above and put in communication
with the sheave or pulley N. It is often unnecessary that the same force is
required to move the rudder, and less steam or power would therefore be
sufficient. For this purpose I prefer to use regulating screws p placed on
each side of the handle d, so as to shorten or lengthen the travelling of this
handle, which enables the steam ports to be more or less opened. The valve
can also be actuated by pinion and quadrant, the pinion having a spoke wheel
of small size on its shaft, which especially might be used for large sizes.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same may be practically carried into effect, I would observe, in
conclusion, that what I consider novel and original, and thereforo claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,

page_text: First, the application of machinery for steering vessels constructed according
to and actuated by means of steam, atmospheric, water, or other pressure, as
berein-before described, or any mere modification thereof.
Second, the peculiar combination of the several parts of the steering
machinery, as herein-before described, or any mero modification thereof.
Third, the peculiar construction and combination of parts of the com-
pensating tiller, as herein-before described, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Elder, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
WILLIAM ELDER. (L.S.)