Improvements in Water Velocipedes.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 27th July, 1893
Complete Specification Left; 16th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 23rd Dec., 1893,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Water Velocipedes.
BERNARD MERVYN DRAKE and JOHN MARSHALL GORHAM, Electrical
Engineers both of 66 Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W. do hereby declare the,
nature of this invention to be as follows:-.
The object of our invention is to fit a small pleasure boat such as a single or
double sculling skiff with twin propellers to be driven by foot power in such a
manner that the propeller shafts, gear and saddle can be dismounted in a few
minutes and the boat be propelled in the ordinary way by rowing, sculling; or
sailing. We also use an improved arrangement of floats for stability the object of
the arrangement being to adjust them to varying loads in the boat in such a
manner that they shall be submerged only in proportion to their size and lines as
compared with the boat itself. That is to say if the boat is empty for instance*
they would be adjusted to merely touch the water and if the boat is loaded to its
maximum say 8" draught the floats would be screwed up by hand from the saddle
to have a proportionate draught to suit their. lines and draught of say 3" instead'
of 8".
The manner in which we propose to carry out our invention is as follows:-Thie
propeller shafts are not carried through the stern of the boat; but are arranged
one on each side of the boat outside in such a manner that they can be fixed and
dismounted in a few minutes by any suitable means such as by allowing tlie cap of
the bearing to work on a hinge at one end and fastened by a thumb screw at the
other. A bevel wheel 'is fixed at the end of the propeller shaft and a crank sliaft is
fixed' across the boat near the centre with a bevel wheel on each end gearing-into
the wheels on the propeller shafts.
The crank shaft is driven like an ordinary velocipede, the saddle being-fixed-on
a pillar which is supported in the same manner as a mast in a small, boat by passing;
it through a hole in the seat so that it can be taken out for rowing. In addition
to the ordinary rudder lines for steering, the lines are carried to two levers fixed to
a tube on the saddle pillar. To the upper end of this tube handles are fixed'so
that by a slight radial movement of the handles, the axis of the saddle pillar being
the centre, the steering.can be effected from the saddle.
Dated this 27ib'dor Jul 1893
BERNARD MERVYN DRAKE:
JOHN MARSHALL GORHAM:.
COMPLETE' SPECIFICATION..
Improvements in Water Velocipedes.
We,, BERNARD MERVYN DRAKE and JOHN MARSHALL GORHAM, Electrical
Engineers, both of 66 Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention has for its object. to fit ar small pleasure boat, such as a single or
double sculling,skiff, with twin.propellers whose shafts are carried outside the boat
on each side thereof and are driven by pedal gearing, the propellers with their
shafts, as also in some cases the driving gear being so arranged as to be readily
dismounted in a few ininutes, in order that the boat. may be propelled in the
ordinary way by rowing, sculling or sailing:
We also employ in combination with the boat an improved arrangement of
lateral floats for increasing the stability thereof, the arrangement being such that

page_text: the extent of their immersion can be adjusted to the varying loads of the boat, so
that they shall be immersed-only in proportion to their size and lines-as com-
pared with the size and lines of the boat itself. That is to say, if the boat be
empty, for instance, they would be adjusted to merely touch the water, while if the
boat be loaded to its maximum of, say 8 ins. draught the floats would be raised up
relatively to the boat by the adjusting mechanism so as to have a proportionate
draught, to suit their lines, of, say, only 3 ins. instead of 8 ins.
The accompanying drawing shews, by way of example, one arrangement for
adapting our said improved propelling mechanism and floats to a boat.
Figure 1 shews a sectional side elevation and Figure 2 shews a plan.
The
On each side of the boat is arranged a propeller shaft A with screw propeller B,
the shafts being supported by bearings C1 C2 C3 outside the boat in such inclined
positions that while their forward ends are at about the level of the gunwale of the
boat, the propellers have the required degree of immersion at the stern.
bearings C may be fixed permanently to the side of the boat and be constructed
with a hinged cap, as shewn in the enlarged view at Figure 3, secured by a pivotted
thumb screw taking into a slot in the cap, while the bearings C2 C3 are removeably
secured by clamping screws to the gunwale of the boat, so that by loosening these
and opening the cap of the bearing C₁ the propeller shaft can be at once unshipped
and stowed away. For convenience of stowage the shafts may be made in two
parts connected by a coupling at D. On the front ends of the propeller shafts are
fixed bevil pinions E E gearing with bevil wheels F fixed on the ends of a trans-
verse crank shaft G, carried in bearings at H on the gunwales and H¹ at the
middle. The opposite cranks of this shaft are provided with pedals which are
worked in the ordinary manner of velocipedes by a person on the saddle I, which is
fixed on a pillar supported in the same manner as a mast in a small boat, namely
by passing it through a hole in the seat and into a socket at bottom, so that it can
be taken out for rowing. When the boat is to be propelled by a second operator, a
second saddle l' is provided with a pedal shaft G geared to the crank shaft G by
-means of pitch wheels and chain K.
I
The steering of the boat is effected by the operator by extending the tiller
lines L L to the ends of a bar M that is fixed on the lower end of a tube N fitted
loose on the saddle pillar, to the upper end of which tube are fixed handles O' 0,
so that by a slight radial movement of these handles the tube N and bar M are
turned in one direction or the other so as to effect the steering.
It will be obvious that the driving gear may be arranged in various other ways;
thus instead of making the transverse shaft that is geared with the propeller shafts
with pedal cranks, it may be arranged between the two saddles, without cranks and
be geared to two pedal shafts for the front and back saddles by means of pitch
wheels and chains in the ordinary manner of double velocipedes.
The saddle pillars and driving shafts can also be arranged to be readily unshipped
when required.
The side floats P P are connected to the outer ends of the levers QQ that are
pivotted at R R to the gunwale of the boat and have their inner ends pivotted to
a screw nut S on a vertical screw spindle T having a crank handle U by which it
can be rotated so as to cause the nut S to travel upwards or downwards upon it
and thus to move the levers Q so as to bring the floats into varying levels relatively
to the boat, as previonsly explained, such adjustment being readily effected by the
perator on the rear saddle.
The brackets carrying the pivots of the levers Q can also be clamped to the
boat by thumb-screws and the screw spindle T be made renoveable, so as to allow
of the floats being unshipped when not required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In water velocipedes the combination with the boat of two outside propeller

page_text: shafts driven by suitable inside pedal gear and so carried in removeable bearings
that the shafts can be readily unshipped when not required, substantially as
described.
2. The combination with a water velocipede of side floats so arranged to different
levels as to be adjustable relatively to the boat for varying loads, so that they
shall be immersed only in proportion to their size and lines substantially as
described.
Dated this 16th day of November 1893.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.