Im- PROVEMENTS IN STEERING APPARATUS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John George Cameron, of the Borongh, Town,
and County of the Town of Kingston-upon-Hull, and John Hastie,
of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, for the Invention of “Im-
PROVEMENTS IN STEERING APPARATUS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John George Cameron
and John Hastie at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 1st August 1878.
We, JOHN GEORGE CAMERON, of the Borough, Town, and County of
the Town of Kingston-upon-Hull, and JOHN HASTIE, of Greenock, in
the County of Renfrew, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEERING APPARATUS," to be as follows, that is to
say:-
This Invention has for its object to improve and simplify the con-
struction or combination of steering apparatus to be worked by the
intervention of steam power, but parts of the improvements are also

page_text: applicable to steering apparatus worked with hydraulic apparatus, or to
steering apparatus worked exclusively by hand.
In carrying out the Invention the motive force is transmitted from
the hand gear or from the steam or hydraulic apparatus by means of a
chain attached to a horizontal wheel or portion of a wheel fixed on the
rudder stock or head; and one improvement consists in placing the
pulley which drives or acts on the chain in a horizontal position, that is,
with its axis vertical instead of horizontal as heretofore. This improve-
ment admits of the chain being led directly, and without the usual
inconvenient intervention of guide pulleys, from the driving pulley to the
rudder when the driving gear or apparatus is at the stern of the ship;
and when the driving gear or apparatus is at the bridge or other more
distant part fewer guide pulleys will be required than heretofore. The
driving pulley may be of the ordinary form with the chain applied to a
portion only of its circumference; it is, however, by preference made
according to a second improvement, so as to receive at least one complete
convolution of the chain round it. With this object, and to prevent one
part of the chain from interfering with another part, the pulley is made
with a helical groove for the chain, and is fitted with a groove and key
on its shaft, so as to be capable of a motion along it, such motion being
guided by projections on the fixed standard or frame, which projections
enter the helical groove and cause the pulley to screw up or down as
through a nut.
A third improvement relates to the handing mechanism of the steering
apparatus when worked by steam or hydraulic engines or motors. The
hand wheel is on a shaft either having on it or being geared to a shaft
that has on it a first bevil wheel gearing with a second bevil wheel
carried by a lever or otherwise, so as to be capable of rolling round the
first bevil wheel; and this second bevil wheel is also in gear with a third
bevil wheel, the axis of which is a continuation of that of the first bevil
wheel. The third bevil wheel is on a shaft turned by the engines or
otherwise connected so as to turn in proportion to the movement actually
imparted to the rudder. The lever or part carrying the second bevil
wheel is connected to the valve mechanism, and when the hand wheel is
turned in either direction the second bevil wheel is thereby made to roll
round the third, and in doing so moves the valves so as to cause the
engines to work in the required direction. Then the engines in working

page_text: make the second bevil wheel roll back on the first bevil wheel, and this
restores the valve mechanism to its neutral position.
A fourth improvement relates to the valves and valve chests used with
steam as the motive agent of the steering apparatus, and consists in
making a cylindrical valve chest parallel to and between the two
cylinders with its centre sufficiently below those of the cylinders for any
water of condensation to drain easily from them into it. The steam
from the cylinders exhausts into the cavities of the valves and passes
thence through openings in the bottoms of the valves into exhaust ports
in the bottom of the valve chest.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John George Cameron and John Hastie in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th January 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
GEORGE CAMERON, of the Borough, Town, and County of the Town of
Kingston-upon-Hull, and JOHN HASTLE, of Greenock, in the County of
Renfrew, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said John George Cameron and John Hastie,
Her special licence that we, the said John George Cameron and John
Hastie, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said John George Cameron and John Hastie, our executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the terin 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 APPARATUS,”
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John George
Cameron and John Hastie, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, or their, or one or their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-

page_text: -
tion, 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 we, the said John George Cameron and John
Hastie, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in 5
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement in writing, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
Our said Invention has for its object to improve and simplify the con-
struction, or combination of steering apparatus to be worked by the 1
intervention of steam power, but parts of our improvements are also
applicable to steering apparatus worked with hydraulic apparatus, or to
steering apparatus worked exclusively by hand.
And in order that our said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, we hereunto append a Sheet of 1
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
portions of steering apparatus as made with our improvements. In these
Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like
parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a sectional plan, and Figure 2 is 2
a vertical section illustrating one of our improved arrangements, in
which the motive power is transmitted from the hand gear or from the
steam or hydraulic apparatus by means of a chain 1 attached to a
horizontal wheel or portion of a wheel 2, fixed on the rudder stock 3;
and one improvement in this arrangement consists in placing the pulley a
4, which drives or acts on the chain 1 in a horizontal position, that is,
with its axis vertical instead of horizontal as heretofore. This improve-
ment admits of the chain 1 being led directly and without the usual
inconvenient intervention of guide pulleys from the driving pulley 4 to
the rudder wheel 2, when the driving gear or apparatus is at the stern of
the ship, and when the driving gear or apparatus is at the bridge or
other more distant part fewer guide pulleys will be required than
heretofore. The driving pulley 4 may be of the ordinary form with the
chain applied to a portion only of its circumference; we, however, prefer
to make it as shown in Figures 1 and 2 according to a second improve-
ment, so as to receive at least one complete convolution of the chain 1

page_text: round it. With this object, and to prevent one part of the chain from
interfering with another part, the pulley 4 is made with a helical groove
for the chain, and is fitted with a groove and key on its shaft 5, so as to
be capable of a motion along the shaft, such motion being guided by
projections 6 on the fixed standard or frame 7. These projections 6 are
adapted to the helical thread on the pulley 4, so that the pulley in
turning screws up or down as through a nut, and thereby always carries
the chain 1, which passes round it in the proper positions for crossing
directly to the grooves 8 of the rudder wheel 2. The pulley shaft 5,
which is carried in lower and upper bearings in the standard 7, may be
connected to the actuating gearing in any convenient way; being
represented as having fixed on its upper end a bevil wheel 9, which is in
gear with a bevil pinion 10 on a horizontal shaft 11, and this shaft may
be part of a set of steam steering engines.
Figure 8 is a plan showing our horizontal driving pulley 4 (without
helical grooves or vertical movement) as combined with two horizontal
guide pulleys 12, 18, arranged to lead the chain 1 so as to embrace a
considerable portion of the circumference of the driving pulley 4.
A third improvement relates to the handing mechanism of the steering
apparatus when worked by steam or hydraulic engines or motors. And
is shown in Figures 4 and 5, which are horizontal and vertical sections
respectively. The hand wheel 14 is on a shaft 15 having on it (or being
geared to a shaft having on it) a first bevil wheel 16 gearing with a
second bevil wheel 17, carried by a lever 18, or otherwise, so as to be
capable of rolling round the first bevil wheel 16, and this second bevil
wheel 17 is also in gear with a third bevil wheel 19, the axis of which is
a continuation of that of the first bevil wheel 16. The third bevil wheel
19.is.fixed to a shaft 20 turned by the engines, or it may be otherwise
connected to the engines or rudder so as to turn in proportion to the
movement actually imparted to the rudder. The lever 18, or the part
carrying the second or middle bevil wheel 17, is connected to the valve
mechanism, and when the hand wheel 14 is turned in either direction
the middle bevil wheel 17 is thereby made to roll round the third 19,
and in doing so moves the valves so as to cause the engines to work in
5 the required direction. Then the engines in turning make the middle
bevil wheel 17 roll back on the first one 16, and this restores the valve
mechanism to its neutral position.

page_text: In the modification shown in Figures 4 and 5 the lever 18 carrying
the middle bevil wheel 17 is formed with a tubular boss 21 to turn on
the shaft 15, and fitting in between the two bevil wheels 16, 19. The
lever 18 has a cross head 22 at its outer end, and to the ends of this cross
head there are jointed links 23, which suspend the two valve connecting
rods (of a pair of cylinders), one, 24, of such valve connecting rods being
shown in Figure 5. The link motion details for actuating each valve
connecting rod 24 are an improved and very convenient modification of
the arrangement described in the Specification of Letters Patent obtained
by John George Cameron, one of us, dated 1 November 1871 (No.
2930); and are such as to obtain the movements for either direction
of motion from a single eccentric 25 on the crank shaft 26, with the
proper lead of the valve in both cases, and including lap. The slotted
link, or its equivalent 27, is arranged close to the eccentric, it and the
eccentric strap 28 being in one, and is jointed to a lever 29, vibrating
about a fixed centre 30. The throw of the eccentric 25 and its direct
action correspond to the lap and lead of the valve, but it also gives an
angular motion to the link 27, and this gives the additional travel
required in one direction or the other accordingly as the slide block 31,
jointed to the end of the valve connecting rod 24, is moved to the upper
or lower part of the link 27 by the action of the hand wheel 14 and
bevil wheels 16, 17, 19.
A fourth improvement relates to the valves and valve chests used with
steam as the motive agent of the steering apparatus, and is shown in
Figures 6 and 7, which are horizontal and vertical sections, the former
as at the line A-A in the latter, and the latter as at the line B-B
in the former. This improvement consists in making a cylindrical
valve 32 parallel to and between the two cylinders 33, 34, with its centre
sufficiently below those of the cylinders for any water of condensation
to drain easily from them into it, for which purpose also the bottoms of
the cylinder passages 35 are made at least as low as the bottoms of the
cylinders. The valves 36, 37, are made with cylindrical bearing surfaces,
and each is like a long hollow casing with lateral ports 38 at each end
for communicating with the cylinder ports and with a long port 39 along
the bottom to communicate with an exhaust port 40 in the bottom of the
valve chest 32.
Having thus particularly described our said Invention. and the

page_text: ourselves to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that
what we believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention
secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
1. The combination in steering apparatus of a horizontal driving
pulley (4) chain (1) and grooved wheel or portion of a wheel (2), the
Inst being fixed on the rudder stock as herein-before described.
2. The making of the driving pulley (4) with a helical groove and
so as to have a vertical screwing motion as and for the purposes herein-
before described.
3. The combination of three bevil wheels (16, 17, 19) with the handing
shaft (15), with the engine shaft (20), and with the valve mechanism,
substantially as and for the purposes herein-before described.
4. The arranging of the valve motion link (27) in relation to the
eccentric (25), substantially in the improved manner herein-before
described.
5. The constructing of the valve chest and valves in the improved
manner herein-before described with reference to Figures 6 and 7 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hastie, on behalf of the said
John George Cameron and myself, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
described.
5. The constructing of the valve chest and valves in the improved
manner herein-before described with reference to Figures 6 and 7 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hastie, on behalf of the said
John George Cameron and myself, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN HASTIE. (L.S.)