GB760863A - An improved hydraulic steering gear for ships - Google Patents

Abstract

760,863. Ship steering gear. DONKIN & CO., Ltd., PAULIN, W. S., and HALL, F. T. June 30, 1955 [July 27, 1954], No. 21838/54. Class 114. In a hydraulic steering gear for ships in which the steering wheel 11 operates a reversible pump 10 to force hydraulic fluid through one or other of two conduits 12, 13 to one or other of two rams 14, 15 actuating a tiller bar 16, a non-return valve is disposed in each conduit to prevent reverse flow from the ram to the pump and the valves are coupled together so that when the pump forces one valve open to feed the associated ram, it also opens the other valve to permit return flow from the other ram to the pump. A block 23 houses both valves, each being housed in a cylindrical bore formed with a restricted neck 24 against the lower face of which a conical non-return valve 28 is urged by a spring 27. The inlet to the bore is at the restricted portion 24 and the outlet is through the lower part or chamber 26. In the upper part 25 of the bore a piston 30 rests through a stem 29 on the top of the valve 28. A conduit leads from the restricted portion 24 to the space above the piston of the other valve so that when the pump forces fluid past either valve 28, the fluid also acts on the upper surface of the piston of the other valve forcing it down to open its associated valve and provide a return passage to the pump. On top of the block 23 is a cam 43 which can be turned by a handle 44 to depress a plate 41 resting on stems 40 contacting the pistons 30 and open both valves to provide free flow in both directions.