Patent GB-190223161-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Ships, Boats, or Vessels for Water or Aërial Navigation
Inventor: MANKER CAREY ALAN
Filed: 1902-10-23
Granted: 1903-07-16
Abstract: 23,161. Manker, C. A. Oct. 23. Propelling and steering by screw propellers and vibrating plates. - Relates t o ships or boats in which downwardly and upwardly moving plates or blades act in such manner as to exert a simultaneous buoyant effect and a propelling effect, and consists in means for operating these plates or blades, for hoisting and lowering the propeller of which the plates form a part, for positioning the propeller so that the boat may ride above the waves or may be lowered to suit smooth water, and for drawing up the propellers into the body of the boat in shallow water. Means for keeping the boat erect and free from turning over, and steering-gear are provided. Figs. 1 and 2 show a vessel or boat equipped with two compensating screw propellers 5, a stern levelling-plate 35, and a steering device or rudder 73 at the bow. Engine or other power is transmitted to the propellers through the shaft 1, and power is applied to mechanism connected to the propellers to vary the velocity or angles, or both velocity and angles of the blades, singly or in unison, during rotation through the three concentric shafts 2<1>, 2<2>, 2<3>, Fig. 9. The propellers are supported by the runners 3, Fig. 10, and the propeller blades 5 are adapted to oscillate on the pivots 7 carried by the revolving casing 11. The blade-stem sockets 9 have cog-wheels 10, which mesh with the racks 14, Fig. 12, loosely positioned in the oscillating cylinders 6. The link arms fixed to the cylinders 6 are linked over the crank 15<1> of the shaft 15, adapted to turn in an eccentric channel in the stud 16. The reciprocating racks 14 have their heads 14<1> seated in the grooved cam 17 loosely mounted upon the stud 16. The cam 17 is rocked through the arms 18, 18<1> and the worm gears 19 on the rotation of the cog-wheel 24, and is set at a fixed angle further forwards on one side of the stud 16 than on the opposite side, so that, on the rotation of the casing 11 by the power shaft B, the reciprocating racks vary the pitch or angles of the propeller blades. The cog-wheel 24 is rotated from the outer shaft 2<3> of the three concentric shafts. Rotation of the shaft 2<2> causes change of the pitch of the blades by a common angle through the movement of the disc 22 on the stud 16 and the collective movement of the racks 14. When the shaft 2<1> is rotated, the worm 15<2> on the crank shaft 15 is operated, and the crank 15<1> moved so that the fulcrum N' is changed from the centre to an eccentric position with respect to the stud 16, and the descending blade moves downwards with a greater velocity than that of ascent on the opposite side. The levelling-plate 35 is adapted to be rotated in a vertical plane by the shaft 44 and the worm 68. The boat is prevented from tipping fore and aft by the action of the pendulum weight 37 on the levelling-plate, and the pole of the levelling-plate may be raised by the gearing from the hand-wheel 40. The propellers are raised or lowered by the hoisting-screws 46, Fig. 9, and the series of concentric gears 66 are connected to the concentric shafts 2<1>, 2<2>, 2<3>. The horizontal concentric power shafts a<1>, a<2>, a<3> are provided with rock levers L', L<2>, L<3>. Tipping of the boat sideways is prevented by the weight 45 rotating the shafts a', but, if it is necessary to vary the velocity of the propeller at one side, as in a constant wind or with waves from one side, the lever L<1> fixed to either shaft may be bent to one side. The runner 3 may be furnished with a guide, and the sharp edge may be protected. Power applied is evenly transmitted to the propellers, to prevent jarring, by causing a spring to be first wound up. The T-shaped rudder 73 disposed at the bow is set or oscillated by the crank-handle 83 and worm gear. In a modification in the construction of the propeller blades and their operating-mechanism, the blades are rigidly connected to the cylinders 6, and are adjustable only from the shaft 2<1>, which changes their leverage to give variable velocity.