US224364A - Power steering apparatus for vessels - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheen.

' s. F.,TAPPAN. Power-Steering Apparatus for Vessels.

N 4,364. Patented .Feb. 10,1880,

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PETERS. FNDTO-LITHOGHAFHER. WASHINGTON, D C.

z-sne ts-slheenz. S. P. TAPPAN.

Power-Steering Apparatus for Vessels.

' No. 224,364. Patented Feb; 10, I880,

Am mm.

ERS. PIIOYd-UTMQGRAPNER, WASHINGTON. D, c

UNITED STATES:

PATENT O FICE.

SAMUEL r. TAPPA-N, or snn'raAnclsoo, CALIFORNIA.

POWER STEERING A PPAR Tus FOR VESSELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Pattmt,No. 224,364, dated February 10, 1880.

' Application filed February 7, 1879.

To all whomtt mag concern: Be it known that I, SAMUEL F. TAPPAN, of j the city and county of San Francisco, in the} -State of California, have invented a certain;

new and useful Power'Steering Apparatus for Vessels; and I do hereby declare that 'the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, reference being hadto the drawings forming part of this specification.

This invent-ion relates to steering gear or apparatus for vessels, and it is' of that class designed to be worked by power. It-isapplied to or combined with the steering-wheel or its drum, and is operated by power transmitted from the engine-room through an end-. less belt. j

Its object is toprovide a steering apparatus by which the rudder is placed under complete control, not only of the man in the wheelhouse, but also of the officer on the bridge or the deck above, which serves and operates at all times to indicate to the steersman and to. the officer on the bridge the exact position of the rudder, and which possesses, besides,'great' simplicity of construction, economy both in, the motive power required to run it and in the space needed for it in the wheel-house, and facility and rapidity of operation, all which will be more fully set forth hereinafter.

The principal elements of my invention consi'st of a horizontal shaft held in bearingsin} close position to the steering-drum and geared into the drum or-the steering-wheel, an arrangement of loose pulleys revolved continuously and in opposite directiousito each other upon said shaft, a means for lockin g said p'ulleys one at a time to said shaft to give it motion in'either direction at will, and a means for operating said locking mechanism both from the station in the W'hevl-house and from the bridge or deck above; also, in connection:

and combination with the drum, steeringwheel, or other part of a steering-gear ofa vessel, a means for recording or showing the movements of the rudder and indicating its position at all times to'the'mauat the wheel and the officer on the bridge or the deck above also, in combination with the mechanism for; moving the rudder, a friction brake or brakes to hold the steering-drum stationary at any point when the rotating mechanism is thrown out of action.

levers.

uponjits axle.

opposite directions, one

To more fully. understand the nature of my invention, and the manner of constructing and applying it, the accompanying drawings are herein referred to by letters and figures.

} a detail view of the-auxiliary hand-lever. Fig. 4 is anelevation, in detail, of the'principal shaft, withits pulleys, clutches, and operating mechanism. Fig. 5is a view, partly in section,

taken through the line w m, Fig. all Fig. 6 is a detail view of the friction-clutches and their Fig. 7: shows the construction of the axial sleeve between the clutches. Fig. 8 is a detail view of the pivoted plate between the drum or axle D are all of the ordinary kind now in use, and no change is required to apply my invention to any steering-gear already constructed. Between the standards B B, I placeasuitable supporting-frame, E E, firml y secured to the floor of the wheel-house," in

which are suitable bearings for a horizontal,

shaft, (1. Upon the end of this shaft, outside of the bearing E, I fix apinion, b, to'work into a gear-wheel, F, that is either bolted to the arms of the steering-wheel or is secured Upon theshaft a, betwcen the bearings E E, are two loose pulleys, G G, that are free to revolve independently of each other, and these pulleys are driven continuously from a shaft or a motor located in the engine-room of the vessel by means of an endless belt, H, thatrunsover one pulley, Gr, around beneath a pulley, g, and backover the other pulley, G, and theyare thus rotated in to'the right and the other to the left.

II are two friction disks or clutches fixed upon and turning with the shaft a-or rather turning it wheneit-her one of them is locked to one of thecontinuously-rotating pulleys. They are capable of being moved laterally upon theshaft, but are heldat a'fixed (listance from each other, and are shifted forward.

or back simultaneously together. They c cupyaposition on the central part of the shaft equidistant from both pulleys G G, and the around either to port or to starboard. The

movement of oneclntch against its pulley G or G causes the shaft a to revolve in one direction, while the movement of this clutch away from its pulley and the contact of the opposite clutch with the pulley next to it produces a revolution of the shaft in the other direction. The position of these clutches I I when the rudder is to be held. at rest at any point is upon the center part of the shaft a,

equidistant between and out of'contact with the two continuonsly-revolving pulleys, and therefore whilethe belt H is driving thepulleys G G, one to the right and the other to the left, no motion is given to the shaft a, ex cept as one orthe other of the clutches I I is moved and held against its pulley.

These several parts-the two continuouslyrevolving pulleys driven by power transmitted from the engine-room, the shaft a, geared into a wheel on the steering drum, and the shifting frictional clutches for locking the shaft to either one of the pulleys-constitute the principal elements of my apparatus; and for the purpose of properly operating them I employ in connection and combination therewith a means for moving the clutches I I either in the wheel-house or from the bridge or the deck above; also, a means of holding the shaft or at rest at any point as soon as the clutches are thrown out of action also, a means for throwing the clutches automatically out of action and stopping the movements of the shaft a whenever the rudder reaches its extreme position either to port or to starboard, and a means for automatically moving the operating levers or handles simultaneously and in unison with the rudder, so that as the rudder changes its position with respect to the line of the keel so do the hand-levers change their position with respect to a fixed mark or index, and both the rudder and its operating-levers always keep the same line or angle.

The clutches I I are moved into and out of action by means of a system of levers and connecting-rods fixed to an upright rock-shaft situated in the wheel-house, and by which the rudder is placed under the control both of the man at the wheel and the pilot on the bridge or another part of the vessel. This mechanism is illustrated by Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 of the drawings. v

The upright rock-shaft J turns in sockets f f in the floor and ceiling of the wheelhouse, and has a hand-lever, K, fixed to it at a convenient height and position. A second lever, K, is situated upon the roof of the wheel-house, and is secured directly to, the upper end of the shaft J, that projects through the roof; or, where the lever K is re quired to be used in another location at a greater distance from the wheel, connectingbelts or wire ropes la and two grooved pulleys, l I, one of them with the lever K upon it, can be employed, as shown in Fig. 3. By means of these two levers. K K the rock-shaft is moved, and its motions are communicated to the lower ends of the upright levers M M through the connecting-rod L and the shortarm m, fixed on the shaft J. The lovers M M are pivoted, at n a, to a fulcrum-bar, h, and embrace the shaft a. Between them is placed a loose axial sleeve, 2, through which the shaft or turns freely, and through them project the posts 0 0, that extend from opposite sidrs of the sleeve 2. threaded upon their ends to receive the nuts q q, and after passing through the lovers M M they receive and hold the cross-bars N N, with the shoes or segmentplates r 1*, that surround and grasp between them the circular flanges O O on the inner faces of the clutches I. The pressure of these curved plates 1 r is produced and regulated by the nuts q and the snrin gs s s, which, by bearing upon the arms N N, hold the curved shoes 1' in contact with the flanges 0. Thus the clutches and their shaft or are kept stationary, except at the times when either one of the clutches is to be thrown These posts 0 0 are screwagainst a pulley, G or G, to turn the shaft.

At such times the flanges O are relieved from the pivoted plate P, between the lower ends of the upright levers M M, for when the clutches are to rotate itis necessary to lift and hold back the brakes. This plate P, to which the end of the rod L is connected by the pin 70, turns on a pivot, t, and by the movement of the rod it is thrown and held out of a perpendicular. It has two bosses, u u, in the faces of which are the notches or wedge-shaped slots to w, and into these notches the teeth or nibs x a (of corresponding shape) on the ends of the levers M M are pressed and held by the action of the springs s 8.

When the plate P occupies a perpendicular position the nibs or teeth of the levers rest in the notches w w; but when it is caused to take a diagonal position the teeth are raised out of the notches w by the turning of the plate, and the ends of the levers M are spread apart and held a sufficient distance to lift the brakes r 1' clear of the flanges on the sides of the clutches. As long as the plate P is held in such diagonal position the teeth a: .r are kept out of their seats in the bosses to u and the brakes are held back; but as soon as the hand-lever operating the connecting-rod L is released the pressure of the springs s 8 against the levers M M, forces the teeth .00 aback into their notches and permits the brakes r r to close against the flanges 0. At the same time the plate P is brought back into its position the pressure of the shoes r r by .theaction of i i l 1 in perpendicular linewith the levers M. This;

will be all clearly understood by referring to, Figs. 4, 5, 8, 10 of the drawings. Whenever the rock-shaft J is turned by the hand-levers the connecting-rod L is caused to; move the upright levers M'upon their fulcrumpoint it intoamore .or less inclined position,

and by this means to press the end of the; shifting-sleeve p, and also move one or other of the sets of brake-shoes laterally against; the face of a clutch, I or I, and. hold it against thepulley next to it. As long as. pressure; against the hand-lever is maintained the levers l M will keep the clutch in action and the'shafti a will revolve; but the movementrequired to; throw the parts into and out of working contact is so slight that as soon as the hand-lever} is released the tendency of the levers M MI to i return to their normal position through the: pressure of the springs s s will throw on thel brakes at the same time that the clutch in ac-i tion is moved from its pulley. Thus the connecting-rod L, while it moves the levers M M} toward one or the other of the clutches and' produces their required shifting movements toward the pulleysG G, also acts atthe same; time to lift and hold up the brakes r r by turning the plate P into a diagonal position,

By reference to Figs. 1, 4, and ll of. the: drawings it will be seen that the fulcrum-bar h is not stationary, but is made to travel upon a screw-shaft,Q. This screw-shaft is placed above and in line withvthe shaft a, and is geared with it by meansof the pinion y and the gear-wheel R. Any movement of the steer in g-wheel therefore produces a .corresponding rotation of the shaft Q, and the fulcrum-point h is caused to travel and change its position on the shaft simultaneously with the rudders' movements, and either toward or away fromv a vertical line, 1. 2, on which the posts or centers o 0 are situated. When the fulcrum-bar h has traveled from one end to the other of the screw-shaft Q the rudder has moved from its extreme point port to its extreme position starboard, or vice versa, according to the direction of movement. This shifting of the fulcrum-point h turns the levers about upon the center posts, 0 0, and throws the position of the ends of the levers and their plate]? either nearer to or farther away from the line of the upright rock-shaft J and as the length of theconuecting-rod L is a fixed one this movement of the point of connection affects the angular position of the short arm or lever fixed on the upright shaft, and. thus changes the angle of the hand-levers K with respectto the longitudinal axis of the vessel or a fixed index-mark. The rudder of the-vesseland the hand-levers K K are by this means caused to move in unison, and the position of'the one always coincideswith .thatoccupied by the other. a

As the apparatus is arranged in Figs. 2 and- 4, the rotation of the shaft or in the direction 3 will turn the steering-wheel in the direction 4 and move the rudder to port. At the same time therotation of the screw-shaft Q will move the fulcrum-point in the direction 5 and throw the levers into the angular position shown in Figs. 4 and 11 by the broken. lines. By thus moving the point t farther away the upright ally together on their shaft a.) and stop the rotation of the shaft a. This constitutes an automatic means for throwing the apparatus out of action as soon as the rudder has reached either extreme position to prevent straining or breaking the rudder or parts of the working mechanism through carelessness. Fixed stops for the same purpose can be also placed upon each side of the hand-levers K K to prevent them from being pressed over too far.

Instead of making the hand-levers K serve as indicators of the position 'of the rudder a fixedpointer on the shaft J and a graduated arc situated in front of it can be employed in connection. with the rock-shaft to show and record more accurately theposition of the rudder.

cated on the deck or bridge convenient to the captains or pilots accustomed station, and connecting them positively with the actuatingshaft of the' apparatus in the wheel-house, as

By having additional hand-levers K K lo-' before described, the entire apparatus is placed under the control of the officer on the bridge, and, while the position of the rudder is always indicatedto hi1n,a means is also provided forcoutrolling the movements of the wheel below in the pilot-house and for check- I ing any change made by the man at the wheel through. haste or carelessness. This indicating mechanism can be readily applied to'the steering-wheel of any vessel without the employment of the actuating-pulleys and locking mechanism that are herein connected with .it.

Where the belt H cannot be driven with advantageor convenience from the'main engine of thevessel an auxiliary motor can be employed, andthe surp us power thereof can be '1';

amount of pressure required to hold the steering-wheel at rest can be varied, so that the brakes may yield and allow the wheel to turn and relieve the rudder just enough to prevent any breaking of the parts 111 a heavy sea.

Having thus fully described my invention, what 1 claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A power steering apparatus for vessels, consisting of the following parts or elements a steering drum or axle having a gear-wheel secured thereon, a horizontal shaft geared into said wheel, a set of loose pulleys revolved continuously and independently of each other in opposite directions upon said shaft, and a means for locking either one of said pulleys fast upon the horizontal shaft at any time, substantially as herein described, whereby the motion of either one of said pulleys is communicated to the steering-drum.

2. The combination in a power steering apparatus for vessels, of a horizontal rotating shaft geared into the steering wheel or drum, a set of loose pulleys upon said shaft having a continuous rotary motion in opposite directions to each other, and a set of friction disks or clutches fixed to said shaft but capable of being moved laterally on said shaft toward and away from either one of the revolving pulleys, whereby the said shaft can be locked to and receive the rotation of either one of the said pulleys at will, substantially as herein described, for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, in a power steering apparatus, of a horizontal rotating shaft geared into the steering wheel or drum, aset of loose pulleys having a continuous rotary motion, as described, upon said shaft, and a set of friction disks or clutches fixed to said shaft between the said revolving pulleys, and also connected to each other, to move simultaneously and together upon their shaft, whereby either one of said clutches is moved away from its pulley and out of action therewith before the other clutch can engage with the pulley adjacent thereto, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, in a power steering apparatus, of a horizontal rotating shaft geared into the steering wheel or drum, and having aset of friction-clutches fixed thereon, butcapable of a laterally-shiftin g movementin both directions, a set of loose pulleys havingacontinuous rotary motion, one in opposite direction to the other, upon said shaft, and located one in front of each of the said clutches, a means for shifting the said clutches simultaneously together upon said shafttoward and away from their pulleys, and a means for holdin g the said clutches and their shaft at rest at any point when the said clutches and pulleys are not in working contact, all substantially as herein described.

5. In combination, the laterally -moving clutches I I, the levers M M, pivoted to a fulcrum, h, the loose axial sleeve p, with its posts 0 o, the cross-arms N N, with shoes 1' r, the

connecting-rod L, attached to the free ends of the levers M M, and the actuating rock-shaft J, substantially as herein set forth, and constituting a means for shifting the said clutches, as described.

6. In combination, the laterally-moving clutches I I, with flanges O O, the levers M M, the screw-shaft Q, geared into the steering wheel or drum and rotating in unison withit, the traveling fulcrum-bar h, the axial sleevep on the shaft a, the cross armsN N, with shoes r r, the springs and nuts q s, the pivoted plate P,and the connecting-rod L, attached thereto, substantially as described, to operate for the purpose set forth.

7. The rock-shaft J and a means for turning the shaft simultaneously and in unison with the steering wheel or drum of a vessel when said shaft has a lever, arm, or other means fixed thereto for indicating its movements, substantially as described, all combined for the purposes set forth.

8. The combination, with a steering apparatus for vessels, of the rockshaft J, a means for operating the said shaft to turn simultaneously and in unison with the steering wheel or drum, and the auxiliary lever or arm K, connected to said shaft, substantially as described, and operating for the purposes set forth.

9. In combination with the levers M M, having cross-arms N N, with shoes 1" r, and the sleeve 1), with the springs and nuts 8 q, the fulcram-bar h, for connecting the said levers at one end, and a means, substantially as herein described, for spreading them apart at their opposite ends, for the purposes set forth.

10. In combination with the levers M M, pressed toward each other by springs s, and having a fulcrumoint at one end and angular teeth or nibs m a: on the inner face of their opposite ends, the pivoted rocking plate P, provided with bosses at u, in which are diametrical notches w w, to receive the said nibs m m, and connected with said levers M M by a pin or pivot which passes through the said ends and through the plate I, and the lever L, for operating said plate, all constructed and applied to operate as set forth.

11. In combination with the shaft a, geared into the drum or axle of a steering-wheel, and carrying the continuously-revolving pulleys, and the clutches I I, constructed substantially as described, the traveling fulcrum-bar h upon the screw-shaft Q, having stops 22, which are adjustable in length on the sides of the bar adjacent to the faces of the clutches, said shafts a and Q being geared together to operate the fulcrum-bar, substantially as herein described, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 25th day of January, 187 9.

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