Improvements in Steering Gears for Vessels.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 4th July, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Steering Gears for Vessels.
I, CHARLES EDWIN BERGMAN, of Everett, in the County of Snohomish,
and State of Washington, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to steering gear for vessels and has for its object to provide
fluid-operated steering mechanism designed to facilitate the operation of a rudder
and give to the pilot increased control with a minimum application of power to the
pilot-wheel.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following
description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the
appended claims.
In the drawings:-
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a steam launch showing the steering mechanism
embodying my invention applied thereto in the operative position.
Figure 2 is a plan view of the steering mechanism showing the connections
between the rudder-shaft or post and the controlling or auxiliary valve.
Figure 3 is a side view of the same.
Figure is a vertical section on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2.
Figure 5 is a rear view, partly in section, of the drum and means for communi-
cating motion thereto from a hand-operated spindle.
Figure 6 is a horizontal section of the valve mechanism.
Figure 7 is a vertical section of the same.
'
Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the
drawings.
1 designates the rudder-shaft to which is keyed a segment gear 2 meshing with a
similar segment gear 3 which is keyed to a spindle 4 whereby rotary movement of
the rudder-shaft is communicated in the opposite direction to the spindle 4. Also
keyed to the rudder-shaft is a swinging piston 5 operating in a quadrant cylinder 6
arranged in a horizontal position upon the deck of the vessel, and communicating
with said cylinder upon opposite sides of the plane of the piston are the ports 7 and 8
of the valve-chamber 9. This valve chamber is tubular in construction and is
provided with inlet ports 10 and an exhaust port 11.
Operating in the valve-chamber is a piston-valve 12 having heads 13 and 14 to
control the passage of fluid from the interior of the chamber through the
ports 7 and 8 to the cylinder, and co-operating with said piston-valve is a tubular
auxiliary or compensating valve 15 in the bore of which the heads 13 and 14 of the
piston-valve fit to slide. The auxiliary or compensating valve is provided with
ports 16 and 17 communicating with counter bores 18 which in turn communicate
with the ports 7 and 8, whereby the auxiliary valve may move through a distance
equal to its entire movement without throwing the ports 16 and 17 out of
communication with the ports 7 and 8. The ports 16 and 17 are adapted to be closed
by the piston-heads 13 and 14 respectively, said piston-heads having a small lap of
approximately one thirty-second of an inch. The auxiliary valve is provided with
packing-rings 19 arranged respectively, upon opposite sides of the planes of the
ports 16 and 17 and at its center with an outlet opening 20 to communicate with the
exhaust port of the chamber.

page_text: In order to prevent the piston or main valve from turning in the auxiliary valve it
is provided at one end with a cross-sectionally angular extension 21 fitting in a
socket formed by parallel side plates 22 said side plates being connected by a key 23
which extends through a longitudinal slot 24 in the extension to limit the longitudinal
movement of the valve.
The stem 25 of the piston or main valve is threaded near its extremity for
engagement by corresponding threads in the bore of a drum 26, said drum having
reeled thereon the intermediate portion of an operating cable 27 adapted to pass
around suitable direction pulleys and extend to a similar drum or spool 28 which is
operated directly by the pilot wheel 29 in the pilot house, whereby the rotation of the
pilot-wheel will be communicated through the cable to the spool and by reason of the
engaging threads of the drum and valve-stem will communicate longitudinal move-
ment to the valve to open one of the ports of communication with the cylinder and
thereby allow steam or other actuating fluid to pass to the cylinder upon one side of
the piston and thereby communicate motion to the rudder shaft.
The auxiliary valve carries a rack 30 with which meshes a segment pinion 31 on
the lower extremity of the spindle 4, said spindle extending into a box 32
communicating with the valve chamber and passing through a suitable stuffing-box 33.
From this arrangement of parts, it will be seen that when the main valve is operated
to allow actuating fluid to pass to the cylinder upon one side of the piston the motion
imparted to the rudder-shaft will be communicated through the intermeshing
gears 2 and 3 to the spindle 4 and from thence through the pinion 31 to the auxiliary
valve whereby said auxiliary valve will move in the same direction as the main valve
has been moved, or, in other words, will follow the main valve. Hence when a
sufficient quantity of the actuating fluid has passed through the inlet port into the
cylinder to move the auxiliary valve a distance equal to the main valve the
ports 16 and 17 will again be closed by the piston-heads 13 and 14, and the move-
ment of the parts will be checked. A steam supply-pipe 34 is provided with
branches 35 which communicate respectively with the inlet pipes 10. In addition to
the above-described means for cominunicating motion to the main valve I provide
direct operating devices consisting of a hand-wheel 36 arranged approximately over
the rudder and having a shaft 37 carrying a bevel pinion 38 to mesh with a
bevel gear 39 on the drum. This bevel pinion is normally held out of engagement
with the bevel gear hy means of a pin 40 forming a journal for the lower end of the
shaft 37 and fitting in a bore 41 of said shaft, and a spring 42 also arranged
in said bore between the upper extremity of the pin 40 and the contiguous end of the
bore. The effect of this spring is to raise the shaft 37 and hence the bevel pinion
sufficiently to disengage the latter from the bevel gear, and the shaft is depressed to
secure engagement of the gears by means of a foot-lever 43 preferably arranged
near the deck of the vessel contiguous to the shaft, whereby it may be depressed
with facility by the pilot while operating the hand-wheel. Furthermore, the rudder
shaft is provided at its upper end with an angular seat 44 for engagement by the eye
of an ordinary tiller-bar or lever, when by reason of the steering gear being disabled,
it is necessary to operate the rudder by direct means.
This being the construction of the improved steering gear, the operation thereof is
as follows:
When the pilot-wheel is turned to communicate motion through the flexible
connections or cables to the drum, the latter being rotated in a direction necessary to
impart motion to the valve-stem in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 6,
the piston-head 13 opens the ports 16 and hence allows steam or other motive agent
to pass through the port 7 to the cylinder. This causes the partial rotation of the
rudder-shaft in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 2, and this motion
is communicated through the intermeshing gears 2 and 3 to the spindle and
from thence through the segment pinion to the auxiliary valve, whereby the latter
is also moved in the direction indicated by said arrow in Figure 6. Hence the
movement of the main valve which allows the motive agent to pass to the cylinder,
causes a succeeding and corresponding movement of the auxiliary valve, whereby the

page_text: ports of the auxiliary valve follow the movement of the heads of the main valve.
This following movement of the auxiliary valve continues as long as the motive agent
continues to enter the cylinder, the fluid upon the opposite side of the piston in the
cylinder escaping through the port 8 and ports 17 to the interior tubular auxiliary
valve, and thence through the exhaust opening 20 and port 11. In the same way the
movement of the piston by which motion is communicated to the rudder-shaft
continues as long as steam or other agent is admitted to the cylinder, and hence as
long as the ports 16 of the auxiliary valve are exposed by the piston head 13 and
therefore, when the auxiliary valve has advanced the same distance as the main valve
has previously been moved the ports 16 will again be closed by the head 13 and the
parts will be held from further movement. Thus, the connections between the piston
which is connected to the rudder shaft, and the auxiliary or compensating valve are
such as to cause a movement of the auxiliary valve equivalent to the previous move-
ment of the main valve, whereby when the auxiliary valve has moved through a
distance equal to the main valve the steam or other motive agent will be automatically
cut off and the piston and other parts of the mechanism will remain fixed in the
positions which they then occupy. If the expansion of the steam admitted upon one
side of the piston carries the latter beyond the above mentioned position of rest the
auxiliary valve will be carried beyond the position at which its ports are closed by
the heads 13 and 14 and, therefore, the motive agent will be admitted at the opposite
side of the piston, and hence will cause an equalization of pressure and a consequent
return of the parts to their positions.
In the same way, the reduction of pressure upon one side of the piston caused by
condensation or otherwise, will produce a movement of the piston which being
communicated to the auxiliary valve will allow motive agent to enter the cylinder
upon that side of the piston upon which the condensation has occurred thereby
returning the parts as before described, to their normal positions with the ports of
the auxiliary valve closed by the heads of the main piston, and hence with the
pressure upon opposite sides of the piston equalized.
The quadrant-cylinder is swiveled upon the rudder shaft or spindle as a center and
is capable of a partial rotation around the same to enable the parts to yield when the
rudder receives an excessive strain, as by being struck by a cross wave and in order to
provide for maintaining the cylinder normally in its proper position I employ cushion-
springs 45 and 46 connected at their inner ends to a projection 47 at the center of
the front side of the cylinder and at their outer ends to fixed timbers of the vessel.
The cylinder is also provided with ears 48 which are slotted parallel with the curved
or segmental side of the cylinder, the slots being engaged by guide bolts 49 whereby
the cylinder is held in place while allowed to yield laterally a sufficient distance to
avoid overstraining the parts of the mechanism.
Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction
may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the
advantages of this invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The combination with a piston connected to a shaft and operating in a cylinder,
of a valve-casing having poris in communication with the cylinder, a main piston-
valve operating in the casing, an auxiliary valve having ports communicating with
the ports in the casing and adapted to be closed by the heads of the main valve, a
pinion meshing with a rack on the auxiliary valve, and intermeshing gears carried
respectively, by the shaft to which the piston is connected and the spindle of said
pinion, substantially as specified.
2. The combination with a piston adapted to be connected to a rudder-shaft and
operating in a cylinder of valve mechanism for controlling the admission of fluid to
the cylinder and including a slide valve, a drum threaded upon the stem of said valve
and adapted when rotated to communicate longitudinal movement to the valve,

page_text: and means for communicating rotary motion to the drum, substantially as
specified.
3. The combination with a piston adapted to he connected to a rudder shaft and
operating in a cylinder of valve mechanism for controlling the admission of fluid to
the cylinder and including a slide valve having a threaded stem, a drum having a
threaded bore engaging said stem and adapted to impart movement to the valve,
a pilot-wheel, a second drum adapted to receive rotary motion from the pilot wheel,
and flexible connections between said drums, substantially as specified.
4. The combination with a rudder-shaft and a piston connected to the shaft and
operating in a cylinder of valve mechanism for controlling the admission of fluid to
the cylinder and including a slide valve, a rotary member threaded upon the stem of
said valve and adapted by rotation to communicate longitudinal movement to the
valve, a hand-wheel having a spindle carrying a gear adapted to mesh with a gear on
said rotary member, a pin forming the trunnion of said spindle and fitting in a bore
thereof, a spring arranged in the bore of the spindle between said pin and the
-contiguous extremity of the bore to normally hold the said gears out of engagement,
and means for depressing the spindle to cause engagement of the gears, substantially
as specified.
5. The combination with a valve casing, of a piston-valve mounted for sliding
movement therein, a drum threaded upon the stem of said valve and adapted to
communicate movement to the valve, means for operating the drum, and guiding
devices for the valve, the same including a cross-sectionally angular extension fitting
in a socket at one end of the casing, and a guide-pin arranged transversely in the
socket and engaging a longitudinal slot in said extension, substantially as specified.
6. The combination with a rudder shaft or spindle, of a cylinder, a piston operating
in the cylinder and positively secured to the rudder-shaft or spindle, resilient devices
for maintaining the cylinder in its normal position and adapted to yield when the
ruddershaft or spindle is strained torsionally, and means for varying the pressure
upon opposite sides of the plane of the piston to communicate motion to the
rudder-shaft, substantially as specified.
7. The combination with a rudder shaft or spindle, of a quadrant cylinder swiveled
concentric with the shaft or spindle, a piston rigidly secured to the shaft or spindle
and operating in the cylinder resilient devices for maintaining the cylinder in its
normal position, and means for varying the pressure upon the opposite sides of the
plane of the piston to communicate motion thereto, substantially as specified.
8. The combination with a rudder shaft, or spindle, of a quadrant cylinder swiveled
concentric with the shaft or spindle, a piston secured to the shaft or spindle and
operating in the cylinder, cushion springs connected to the cylinder to allow a
swinging movement of the cylinder around the shaft or spindle as a centre, means for
guiding the cylinder, and operating connections whereby the pressure upon opposite
sides of the plane of the piston may be varied to impart motion to the piston,
substantially as specified.
Dated this 7th day of April 1896.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.