IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING MOTIVE POWER AND FOR DRIVING MECHANISM
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Roelof Van de Weerd, of Enschede, Holland,
for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING
MOTIVE POWER AND FOR DRIVING MECHANISM.”
Sealed the 17th July 1874, and dated the 19th January 1874.

page_text: is fixed to its blade top and bottom, and divides the surface into two
unequal parts. The paddles cannot revolvo entirely, being prevented
doing so by stops placed upon the nave or drum in the centre, against
which the longer portions of the blades come to rest when the water or
air acts upon them. Through this arrangement the current exerts a
pressure on the surfaces of the exposed blades which stand in its
direction and so causes the rotation.
The surfaces of the blades are, after being acted upon by the fluid,
caused to approach a vertical position, and thus offer the least possible
resistance in coming round to the water entry, and for this purpose I
partition off the entry and direct the current as desired.
The speed and power of my apparatus will depend upon the speed of
the current and upon the surfaces of the blades, the apparatus being
attached to gearing of any kind of machinery, which can be driven
thereby.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Roelof Van de Weerd in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROELOF
VAN DE WEERD, of Enschede, Holland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Roelof Van de Weerd, Her special
licence that I, the said Roelof Van de Weerd, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Roelof Van de Weerd,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING MOTIVE POWER AND FOR
DRIVING MECHANISM," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said

page_text: Roelof Van de Weerd, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to
be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Roelof Van de Weerd, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to an apparatus by which when placed to be
acted upon by a current of water or air the power contained in that
current is transmitted and used as a motive power for driving or moving
machines for general use and for ventilating purpose.
The apparatus consists of a wheel fitted with paddles, floats, or blades,
these being hung or attached to arms projecting from a boss or collar
upon a spindle or shaft arranged vertically or horizontally across the
inner portion of a casing or trunk, the casing having a blade or deflector
within it for leading or guiding the current in the desired direction.
The paddles, floats, or blades are not centrally hung to the arms, conse-
quently during a portion of their rotation with the arms and shaft they
gradually change their position from edges to faces in succession, in
which latter position they are acted upon by the current to force the
wheel round.
I provide rests or stops upon the arms to receive the larger sections of
the floats, which stops may be formed of bars, especially if the floats be
socketed in end arms; the floats would then be supported along their
length, and would give greater rigidity to them while the fluid is forcing
them round.
The Invention will be clearly understood by reference to the annexed
Drawing.
a is a casing fitted horizontally in a water course or in proximity to a
building so that water flowing along or from an upper to a lower level
shall pass through the shoot b, and be shot off by the deflector or baffic
plate c on to the paddles, blades, or floats d, d, as they present their flat

page_text: Secondly. I claim arranging hinged or jointed paddles, floats, or
blades to arms of a central axle, the whole being within a casing as
shown, as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Roelof Van de Weerd, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
ROELOF VAN DE WEERD. (L.S.)
ROELOF VAN DE WEERD. (L.S.)