US3258989A - Boat steering device - Google Patents

Boat steering device Download PDF

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Publication number
US3258989A
US3258989A US324031A US32403163A US3258989A US 3258989 A US3258989 A US 3258989A US 324031 A US324031 A US 324031A US 32403163 A US32403163 A US 32403163A US 3258989 A US3258989 A US 3258989A
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
ring
flexible member
housing
groove
steering device
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US324031A
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Clarence A Frese
William J Gilmore
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
FKI Industries Inc
Original Assignee
American Chain and Cable Co Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by American Chain and Cable Co Inc filed Critical American Chain and Cable Co Inc
Priority to US324031A priority Critical patent/US3258989A/en
Priority to DEA22772U priority patent/DE1928395U/de
Priority to DK559664AA priority patent/DK113198B/da
Priority to ES0306032A priority patent/ES306032A1/es
Priority to GB46554/64A priority patent/GB1014128A/en
Priority to CH1474964A priority patent/CH418870A/fr
Priority to BE655803D priority patent/BE655803A/xx
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3258989A publication Critical patent/US3258989A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
    • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
    • F16C1/00—Flexible shafts; Mechanical means for transmitting movement in a flexible sheathing
    • F16C1/10—Means for transmitting linear movement in a flexible sheathing, e.g. "Bowden-mechanisms"
    • F16C1/12—Arrangements for transmitting movement to or from the flexible member
    • F16C1/18—Arrangements for transmitting movement to or from the flexible member in which the end portion of the flexible member is laid along a curved surface of a pivoted member
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
    • B63H—MARINE PROPULSION OR STEERING
    • B63H25/00—Steering; Slowing-down otherwise than by use of propulsive elements; Dynamic anchoring, i.e. positioning vessels by means of main or auxiliary propulsive elements
    • B63H25/06—Steering by rudders
    • B63H25/08—Steering gear
    • B63H25/10—Steering gear with mechanical transmission
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
    • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
    • F16C2326/00—Articles relating to transporting
    • F16C2326/30—Ships, e.g. propelling shafts and bearings therefor
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T74/00—Machine element or mechanism
    • Y10T74/20—Control lever and linkage systems
    • Y10T74/20396—Hand operated
    • Y10T74/20402—Flexible transmitter [e.g., Bowden cable]
    • Y10T74/2042—Flexible transmitter [e.g., Bowden cable] and hand operator

Definitions

  • This invention relates to boat steering devices of the type wherein a control cable flexible member is wound or unwound about a ring in a housing to push or pull, and thereby turn, the tiller or other steering means of a boat. More particularly, it is directed to improved bearing means in the housing of the steering device for restraining the flexible member against outward displacement off the ring.
  • This object is achieved by substituting a particular curved bearing member of plastic material for the array of rollers around the ring, without appreciably increasing the frictional drag on the flexible member during operation and yet with a notable reduction in the fabrication, assembly and maintenance costs of the device.
  • the improved bearing means is applicable to a boat steering device wherein a flexible member is adapted to be wound and unwound on the circumference of a rotatable ring and to pass tangentially with respect thereto through an opening in a housing surrounding the ring.
  • the new bearing means comprises a curved member fixed within the housing about substantially all of the circumference of the ring except where the flexible element passes tangentially therefrom through the housing.
  • This curved member is of plastic material and it has a smooth circular inner bearing surface opposed to the circumference on the ring and in slideable engagement with substantially the full length of the flexible member on the ring.
  • FIG. 1 is a plan view of the steering device partly broken away and with half the housing removed to expose the inner parts;
  • FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 is a perspective illustrating the use of the steering device when installed on a boat.
  • FIG. 4 is a perspective of the curved bearing means of the invention.
  • the device includes a housing consisting of two matched housing plates 10 and 11.
  • the housing plates 10 and 11 may advantageously be of die cast zinc and they are of similar right and left hand construction so that the device can be installed to operate a control cable extending to one side or the other.
  • Each of the housing plates 10 and 11 has an outer peripheral flange 12 and 13 respectively which register when assembled to define a substantially fully enclosed space within the housing.
  • the plates are held together by at at least three bolts 14, 15 and 16, which appear in section in FIG. 1.
  • Aligned circular holes 18 and 19 are formed in the geometric center of the housing plates.
  • a steel bushing 20 disposed coaxially with the center line of the housing.
  • This bushing 20 rotatably supports an internal gear ring 21 of die cast zinc, which includes a hub portion 22 held against axial displacement by the housing plates 10 and 11.
  • the internal gear ring 21 also includes two asymmetrical spoke portions 23 and 24 as shown in FIG. 1 which define an included angle of about These spoke portions support an outer annular portion 25 which is formed with gear teeth 26 on its inner surface substantially throughout the larger arc between the two spoke portions 23 and 24.
  • For-med about the entire circumference of the ring 21 is a central a-rcuate groove 28 of less than semi-circular shape. The diameter of the ring 21 is such that its grooves 28 is spaced closely adjacent the flanges 12 and 13 of the assembled housing plates lh and 11.
  • a drive shaft 30 Suitably journalled in aligned holes in the housing plates 10 and 11 is a drive shaft 30 which is offset from the center of the device as shown in FIG. 1.
  • the shaft 39 has splined to it a pinion 31 which meshes with the gear teeth 26 on the inside of the ring 21.
  • the drive shaft 30 may be rotated by means of a manual steering wheel 32 to turn the ring 21 clockwise or counterclockwise.
  • the limits of rotation of the ring 21 are established by the connecting bolts 15 and 16 extending through the housing plates 10 and 11, clockwise movement of the ring 21 being limited by engagement of the spoke portion 23 with the bolt 16 and counterclockwise movement of the ring 21 being limited by engagement of the spoke portion 24 with the bolt 15.
  • Both of the housing plates 10 and 11 include corner portions 34, only one of which is shown in FIG. 1 since the housing plate 1! is removed in that view.
  • the third connecting bolt 14 extends between the housing plates 10 and 11 in the region of the corner portions 34 and it clamps the corner portions about a cylindrical end fitting 35 of a push-pull cable 36.
  • the corner portions 34 of the housing plates surround the circumference of the end fitting 35, they leave an opening through which the end fitting 35 projects.
  • the end fitting 35 is thereby held securely in a position such that its central axis is substantially tangential with the groove 28 formed in the circumference of the ring 21.
  • the push-pull control cable 36 There is included in the push-pull control cable 36 an outer casting 37 and an inner flexible member 38 of circular cross section, perhaps defined exteriorly by closed convolutions of a helical flat wire.
  • the end of the pushpull cable 36 remote from the steering device is associated with the tiller or other steering device of the boat, so that a push or a pull transmitted by the reacting casing 37 and flexible member 38 turns the tiller or other device in the desired direction.
  • the casing 37 terminates within the end fitting 35, but the flexible element 38 extends beyond the end fitting 35 tangentially into the groove 28 formed in the ring 21.
  • the flexible member 38 wraps around it in the groove 28 to a varying extent terminating in a radial hole 40 in the annular portion 21 of the ring where it is held fast, as shown in FIG. 1.
  • the hole 40 should be located such that part of the flexible member 38 remains in the groove 28 when the ring 21 is rotated to its counterclockwise limit and the flexible member is fully extended.
  • rotation of the shaft 30 by means of the steering wheel 32 turns the ring 21 and causes the flexible member 38 to wind or unwind about the ring in the groove 28.
  • the flexible member 33 is wound onto the groove 28 of the ring 21 and a pull is transmitted through the flexible member.
  • the flexible member 38 is unwound from the groove 28 of the ring 21 and a push is transmitted through the flexible member 38. It is during this counterclockwise unwinding rotation of the ring 21 that the flexible member 38 tends to displace radially outwardly from the groove 28 and to buckle or bind instead of transmitting the desired push.
  • the primary object of this invention is to provide means for restraining the flexible member 38 from such radially outward displacement out of the groove 28 and to achieve such a restraining effect without frictionally retarding the longitudinal displacement of the flexible member 38 tangentially out of the steering device and through its casing 37.
  • An acetal resin may be particularly advantageous for the member 42, such as that sold by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. under the trademark Delrin. This can be made very smooth with a somewhat slippery surface and high strength to provide an excellent self-lubricating bearing element. In certain instances, other plastic materials such as nylon or polyethylene may prove equally suitable.
  • the C-shaped member 42 is fixed within the flanges 12 and 13 of the housing plates 10' and 11 concentrically about substantially all of the circumference of the ring 21 except where the flexible element 38 passes tangentially therefrom through the housing opening in the corner portions 34, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
  • the C-shaped member is formed with a smooth inner bearing groove 43 of slightly more than circular cross section.
  • the bearing groove 43 and the groove 28 in the ring 21 are opposed to one another and together they define a space of substantially the same uniform circular cross section as the flexible member 38.
  • the bearing groove 43 is in slideable engagement with substantially the full length of the flexible member 38 wound in the groove 28 about the ring 21.
  • a ring is rotatable in a housing to wind and unwind a flexible member into and out of a circumferential groove in the ring through an opening in the housing with outward displacement of the flexible member resisted during unwinding by a curved plastic bearing member which the housing surrounds, said device being improved in that (a) the plastic bearing member is rigidly abutted along substantially its entire outer curved surface by the surrounding housing so that both the bearing member and the flexible member are fixed against outward displacement during unwinding, and
  • the plastic bearing member is formed along its inner curved surface with a bearing groove opposed to the circumferential groove in the ring and defining therewith a space through which the flexible member passes of substantially the same cross section as the flexible member.
  • a boat steering device according to claim 1 wherein the cross section of the flexible member is circular and the plastic bearing member is of acetal resin.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (AREA)
  • Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Sliding-Contact Bearings (AREA)
  • Sheet Holders (AREA)
  • Professional, Industrial, Or Sporting Protective Garments (AREA)
  • Storing, Repeated Paying-Out, And Re-Storing Of Elongated Articles (AREA)
  • Steering Controls (AREA)
US324031A 1963-11-15 1963-11-15 Boat steering device Expired - Lifetime US3258989A (en)

Priority Applications (7)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US324031A US3258989A (en) 1963-11-15 1963-11-15 Boat steering device
DEA22772U DE1928395U (de) 1963-11-15 1964-11-13 Steuervorrichtung fuer schiffe.
DK559664AA DK113198B (da) 1963-11-15 1964-11-13 Bådstyremekanisme.
ES0306032A ES306032A1 (es) 1963-11-15 1964-11-14 Dispositivo para gobierno de barcos.
GB46554/64A GB1014128A (en) 1963-11-15 1964-11-16 Improvements in boat steering device
CH1474964A CH418870A (fr) 1963-11-15 1964-11-16 Dispositif de direction d'un bateau
BE655803D BE655803A (da) 1963-11-15 1964-11-16

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US324031A US3258989A (en) 1963-11-15 1963-11-15 Boat steering device

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3258989A true US3258989A (en) 1966-07-05

Family

ID=23261772

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US324031A Expired - Lifetime US3258989A (en) 1963-11-15 1963-11-15 Boat steering device

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US3258989A (da)
BE (1) BE655803A (da)
CH (1) CH418870A (da)
DE (1) DE1928395U (da)
DK (1) DK113198B (da)
ES (1) ES306032A1 (da)
GB (1) GB1014128A (da)

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3766801A (en) * 1971-10-27 1973-10-23 Teleflex Inc Actuator assembly
US3771384A (en) * 1972-03-20 1973-11-13 Southwest Products Co Mechanical transmission device
US3828624A (en) * 1971-11-24 1974-08-13 Teleflex Inc Actuator assembly
US3838607A (en) * 1972-05-11 1974-10-01 Teleflex Ltd Steering systems
US3954022A (en) * 1973-09-11 1976-05-04 Teleflex Limited Motion transmitting systems
US4266440A (en) * 1978-11-30 1981-05-12 Nippon Cable System Inc. Steering unit
US4292859A (en) * 1979-01-24 1981-10-06 Nippon Cable System Inc. Steering device
US4480494A (en) * 1982-12-17 1984-11-06 Acco Babcock Inc. Device to translate oscillatory motion into reciprocating motion
US9194466B2 (en) 2011-12-30 2015-11-24 Marine Acquisition (Us) Incorporated Steering cable core support sleeve for a mechanical steering actuator
US10385910B2 (en) * 2013-11-06 2019-08-20 Ultraflex S.P.A. Steering gear for boats

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102011075304A1 (de) * 2011-05-05 2012-11-08 Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft Verbindungselement für einen Seilzug
EP2844557B1 (en) 2012-05-04 2019-07-10 Bombardier Inc. Seating arrangement convertible to a bunk bed

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2767596A (en) * 1956-03-29 1956-10-23 Simon Milton Mechanical rotary steering device for boats
US2870973A (en) * 1955-07-26 1959-01-27 Pioneer Specialty Company Driving mechanism for retractable antennae
US3096128A (en) * 1960-08-31 1963-07-02 Gen Motors Corp Idler arm support bearing
US3110193A (en) * 1960-02-26 1963-11-12 American Chain & Cable Co Steering devices
US3135130A (en) * 1960-11-07 1964-06-02 Teleflex Prod Ltd Marine steering controls

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2870973A (en) * 1955-07-26 1959-01-27 Pioneer Specialty Company Driving mechanism for retractable antennae
US2767596A (en) * 1956-03-29 1956-10-23 Simon Milton Mechanical rotary steering device for boats
US3110193A (en) * 1960-02-26 1963-11-12 American Chain & Cable Co Steering devices
US3096128A (en) * 1960-08-31 1963-07-02 Gen Motors Corp Idler arm support bearing
US3135130A (en) * 1960-11-07 1964-06-02 Teleflex Prod Ltd Marine steering controls

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3766801A (en) * 1971-10-27 1973-10-23 Teleflex Inc Actuator assembly
US3828624A (en) * 1971-11-24 1974-08-13 Teleflex Inc Actuator assembly
US3771384A (en) * 1972-03-20 1973-11-13 Southwest Products Co Mechanical transmission device
US3838607A (en) * 1972-05-11 1974-10-01 Teleflex Ltd Steering systems
US3954022A (en) * 1973-09-11 1976-05-04 Teleflex Limited Motion transmitting systems
US4266440A (en) * 1978-11-30 1981-05-12 Nippon Cable System Inc. Steering unit
US4292859A (en) * 1979-01-24 1981-10-06 Nippon Cable System Inc. Steering device
US4480494A (en) * 1982-12-17 1984-11-06 Acco Babcock Inc. Device to translate oscillatory motion into reciprocating motion
US9194466B2 (en) 2011-12-30 2015-11-24 Marine Acquisition (Us) Incorporated Steering cable core support sleeve for a mechanical steering actuator
US10385910B2 (en) * 2013-11-06 2019-08-20 Ultraflex S.P.A. Steering gear for boats

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
BE655803A (da) 1965-03-16
ES306032A1 (es) 1965-04-01
GB1014128A (en) 1965-12-22
DK113198B (da) 1969-02-24
DE1928395U (de) 1965-12-02
CH418870A (fr) 1966-08-15

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