IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF WORKING THE RUDDERS OF BOATS, SHIPS, AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Oldridge, of 53, Gracechurch Street, in the
City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF
WORKING THE RUDDERS OF BOATS, SHIPS, AND OTHER VESSELS."
Sealed the 25th November 1864, and dated the 9th June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Oldridge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th June 1864.
I, ROBERT OLDRIDGE, of 53, Gracechurch Street, London, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF WORKING
THE RODDERS OF BOATS, SHIPS, AND OTHER VESSELS," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of improvements in the arrangement of levers,
ropes, and pulleys, and the application of two or more helm-wheel barrels
worked by one or more helm wheels, for the purpose of working the rudders
of boats, ships, and other vessels.
One of such improvements consists in attaching a cross head lever to the
rudder of the vessel, each end of this lever being formed into a pulley block
with two sheaves. A rope is attached to one arm of the lever or to the deck,
and then passes over a pulley secured to the deck on the right of the said
lever, returning and passing over one of the sheaves in the pulley block at the
end of the lever, and again passing over a pulley attached to the deck alongside
the other pulley, and thence to one of the barrels or drums of the helm wheel,
to which it is attached in the usual manner. Another rope is secured to the
same arm of the lever or to the deck, and then passes over a pulley secured

page_text: to the deck on the left of the said arm of the lever, returning and passing
over the other sheave in the pulley block at the end of the lever, and
again passing over a pulley attached to the deck alongside the last-
mentioned single pulley, and thence to the other barrel or drum of the helm
wheel, to which it is secured in the usual manner: Ropes are applied in a
similar manner to the other arm of the lever and to the barrels, and by these
arrangements a pull is obtained upon each end of the lever at one and the
same time in the direction in which the rudder is required to be moved. The
drums are connected and worked together by cog wheels or other similar
contrivances. For some purposes I use forked or branched levers.
As my said Invention is capable of various modifications without departing
from the principle thereof, I do not restrict myself to the use of ropes, or to
the precise mode of attaching the several parts together, or to working the
same with direct or multiplied power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Oldridge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
OLDRIDGE, of Number 53, Gracechurch Street, in the City of London, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Oldridge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her
special licence that I, the said Robert Oldridge, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Oldridge,
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 of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MODE OF WORKING THE RUDDERS OF BOATS, SHIPS, AND OTHER
VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert
Oldridge, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
'my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
2

page_text: 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.
:.3
NOW KNOW YE; that I, the said Robert Oldridge, do hereby declare
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:
My said Invention relates to obtaining a greater command over ships'
rudders than has hitherto been obtained, and consists of applying and working
two or more sets of gear attached to one or more levers on the rudder, and all
worked by two or more helm-wheel barrels fitted in a frame and working
together by means of cog wheels or other suitable appliances, and by which
arrangements of parts, though one half of the gear should break away, com-
mand of the rudder is maintained by the other half.
One of such improvements consists in attaching a cross-head lever to the
rudder head of the vessel, each end of the lever being formed into a pulley
block with two sheaves. A rope is attached to one arm of the lever, and then
passes over a pulley. secured to the deck on the right of the said lever,
returning and passing over one of the sheaves in the pulley block at the end
of the lever, and again passing over a pulley attached to the deck alongside
the other pulley, and thence to one of the barrels or drums of the helm wheel
to which it is attached. Another rope is secured to the same arm of the lever,
and then passes over a pulley secured to the deck on the left of the said arm
of the lever, returning and passing over the other sheave in the pulley block
at the end of the lever, and again passing over a pulley attached to the deck
alongside the last-mentioned single pulley, and thence to the other barrel or
drum of the helm wheel to which it is secured. Ropes are applied in like
manner to the other arm of the lever and to the barrels, and by these
arrangements a pull is obtained upon each end of the lever at one and the
same time in the direction in which the rudder is required to be moved. The
drums are connected and worked together by cog wheels.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a perspective. view of the
apparatus. A is the deck of a vessel; B, a cross-head lever attached to the
head of the rudder c; a and b are the two arms of the lever, in each end of
which are two pulleys, p the upper and g the lower; d is an eye hole in the
arm of the lever, to which is attached the rope e, which passes over the pulley f,
and then respectively over the pulleys g, h, i, k, l, to the helm-wheel barrel m,
to which it is made fast; the rope n is also attached to the eye hole d in the

page_text: arm a of the lever B, it thence passes respectively over the pulleys o, p, r, s,
to the helm-wheel barrel t, to which it is made fast; the ropes attached to the
other arm 6 of the lever B are arranged in like manner; u, v, are cog wheels
attached to the helm-wheel barrels m, t, by which means both barrels travel
together; w is the helm wheel by which motion is communicated to the
apparatus by motive power being applied thereto; y, y, is the frame for the
helm-wheel barrels which is secured to the deck A.
Figure 2 is a side view of the helm-wheel barrel frame, and Figure 3 is an
'end view of the same.
Figure 4 is a plan of the rope arrangement as described in the perspective
view, Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a modification of the rope arrangement for working the rudder
from any part of the vessel.
Figure 6 is another modification, showing the rope arrangement in single
purchase, the arms a and 6 of the lever B not having eye holes in them, the
ropes therefore being made fast to the deck A by means of the studs z. The
same letters refer to the like parts in each Figure.
As my said Invention is capable of various modifications without departing
from the principle thereof, I do not restrict myself to the dimensions, nor to
the materials to be employed in the construction thereof, nor to the precise
arrangement of the several parts thereof.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my Invention,
the construction and application of two or more sets of gear working together,
as herein-before described, for the purpose of working the rudders of ships,
boats, and other-nautical vessels.
In witness whereof, the said Robert Oldridge hath hereunto set his
hand and seal, this Sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Signed and sealed in the
presence of
THOMAS SEAVILLE TRUSS,
53, Gracechurch Street,
ROBERT OLDRIDGE. (L.S.)
London.