IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO
HOM HESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, 11ENRY
LUND, of the Temple, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Ier
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland,.bearing date at Westminster, the Thirtieth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the Fourteenth year of Her
reign, did for Herself, er heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Lund, my exors, adiiors, and assigns, her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Henry Lund, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Lund, my exors,
adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in the islands of Guernsey, Jersey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's colonies and
plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Henry Lund, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Lund, hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, are particularly described and ascertained
in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:
My Improvements in Propelling consist in the use or employment below the
water line of what I call rowing propellers, acting in pairs at the stern or
at the middle of a vessel, and so arranged that when one propeller of each
pair or set is employed in propelling the vessel the other is feathered, and vice
versâ, and that each propeller never moves through more than a portion of a circle.
This arrangement is shewn in Figure 1, where A, A, represent stern propellers in
the acting position, and A', A', in the feathered position, and B, B, are acting,
and B', B', feathered midship propellers, each moving through the fourth part
of a circle, in the direction indicated by the arrows marked on Figure 1. The
power producing these effects on the stern propellers may be traced from the
steam cylinder marked C, by the rods a, a, a, working in guides from midship
to stern, and the pitch chains a', a', running over wheels or pulleys on tho
shafts b, b, b1, b. The shafts U₁, b, gear into others on each side of the vessel,
near or towards the stern, as shown more clearly in Figure 2. This last shaft
again drives f, Figure 5, in an opposite direction to its own course, by means
of the wheels or portions of wheels shewn at f, f, Figure 5. Again, the
power driving the shafts 9, 9, or other midship propellers may be traced to the
cylinder C. The cross heads of the piston rods of each cylinder act, through
connecting rods on the arms a², a², Figure 3, which they move at each ascent
or descent through the quarter of a circle; those being attached to the shafts
b, b, and g, g, respectively move the stern and midship propellers backwards
and forwards through like spaces.
By shifting bandles at h, h¹, the clutches h², h², h², h², throw the bevilled
wheels at k, k, k, k, respectively into gear with the shafts b, b, and g, g, so as
to drive them in the direction which shall propel the vessel either forwards or
backwards. The clutches K, K, at the same time secure the simultaneous
and similar velocity of the two shafts on which these bevilled wheels turn.
m, m', are handles to close the valves and stop the engines. These valves are
worked in the ordinary way by eccentrics n, n, Figure 3, on the shafts to
which the arms a, a, are attached as already shewn in Figure 3. It will now
bo convenient to describe the means used to keep the aperture water-tight
through which, these propellers pass from the inside to the outside of the
yessel, and the method of turning or feathering them at the end of each stroke.
The stern propellers are kept water-tight by the pressure of a spring acted on

page_text: by the screw C, Figure 6, which forces the ring a', a', against the lips +, b,
fixed to the sides of the vessel. This ring moves with the propeller, and fills
up the slot or space in the side of the vessel along or through which it travels.
The shaft of the paddle turns one fourth of a circle in this ring, and the
aperture thus occasioned is kept water-tight by the cone c³, pressed upon by
the helical spring and nut just behind the cone.
The midship propellers are kept water-tight in a similar manner as shewn in
Figure 7, where the circular casing A3, A3, A3, is fixed close upon the lips
,, by the nut or screw c' acting on the helical spring, just below which
rests upon the tripod B, B; the rod C³, C3, is firmly fixed to A2, A3, A³, with
an eye through it in which the feathering apparatus at the base of the tripod
B, B, is allowed to act.
The shafts of the propellers turn in A³, A', A³, on the cones d, d, and are
kept water-tight by the nuts and helical springs immediately behind.
The propellers are feathered by the following arrangements, the methods
employed to effect this object on the stern and midship propellers being similar:—
In the stern propellers there is a wheel (E, Figure 6,) on the prolonged shaft
of the propeller which works into an endless screw F bracketted to the shaft
on which the propeller turns, of the same diameter and with the same number
of threads as the wheel, so that if the endless screw be turned one fourth of a
circle the wheel is turned a like distance, and with it the propeller to which it
is attached. On the upper end of the shaft of the endless screw are two arms
9, 9, Figure 5, which carry pins striking against the stops h, h', Figure 8,
altached to the strap or stationary ring K, K, Figure 8, so that at the end of
cach stroke of a propeller the endless screw is turned the fourth part of a circle
first in one direction and then in the other. At the same time the tail or
end a, Figure 9, (where the lower part of the endless screw is shewn in section)
is driven by a pin fixed in the outer ring K, K, Figure 8. This removes the
pin from the hole m, and the spring e then forces it into the holed, Figure 9,
when that part of the endless screw carries round the pin b. The centre on
which a, a, turus, and the spring e, are attached to the bracket which carries
the endless screw. This break locks the propellers during their course.
A section of this arrangement is shewn in Figure 5. The contrivance just
described only provides for the feathering or turning of the upper stern pro-
pellers, but by referring to the link connection shown in Figure 10 it will be
seen that when the upper propellers are feathered the lower are acting, and
vice versa. The rings b, b', Figure 10, into which the lever a moves in two
slots, travel. round the shafts A and B, Figure 10, with the links attached to
the arms of each propeller shaft. It is provided, by the form of the clutches

page_text: worked by the handles h, h', Figure 1, already described, that they shall
change the gearing from forward to backward, or vice versa, only when each
propeller is in the middle of its course, that is, as shown in Figure 6. As each
propeller can be stopped at that point and retrace its course, the arm g (Fig. 5)
might be brought back to the pin which had just turned it without any effect, and
the propellers would not be turned at the end of the stroke. To avoid this error
h', h', are raised and ha, ha, brought into contact with g', g', which are in a right
line with g, g, and on the opposite side of the axis of the endless screw, whereby
its axis is turned in the opposite direction, and the propeller which (for instance)
was just then a feathered propeller becomes the active one, and the active onc
feathered the next course they take. This change is effected in the following
manner K, Figure 11, is the outer strap or ring shown in its position by
Figure 6. In the centre of Figure 11 is seen the end of the shaft L, carrying
an upper propeller, to which are fixed two arms f,f, with springs 9, 9', attached
thereto, and projecting some distance beyond the ends of f, f. b, b', are levers
moving slightly on the centres c, c', and having a broad plate under the shoulder
of the upright rod, which carries h, h', Figure 8. This upright rod passes
through the strap or ring K, Figure 11, and is provided with a helical spring
underneath the ring which keeps the shoulder always pressing upon the broad
plate just mentioned. The surfaces of these plates are in the form of inclines,
and their direction is shown by the sections E, E, contiguous to Figure 11. In
the course the propeller is taking, the arm f is about to move the lever b so as
to raise the frame h, shown in Figure 8, by the action of its inclined plane,
because the spring 9 cannot move away from f and pass c², c³, as it does with
ease when moving in the opposite direction; as soon as f has reached it
moves the lever in the opposite direction, and lets down again. The action
of the other lever bis precisely similar in its effects in raising and lowering h,
Figure 8.
It will be seen on referring to Figures 7 and 12, that the method employed
for feathering the midship propellers is nearly similar to that just described for
the stern propellers. In these last-mentioned Figures h¹, h', represent similar
frames to those shewn in Figure 8; and g', Figure 12, a like arm to that
shown at g, Figure 5; and E and F of Figures 7 and 12, the wheel and
endless screw of Figure 5. When A3, A3, A3, which carries the midship
paddles is driven round by the shafts 9, 9, Figure 1, the arm g', Figure 12,
comes alternately in contact with each stop, as already shown in Figure 8, and
turns the wheel E in Figure 7 one fourth of a circle. The arrangements
which have been described in reference to Fig. 11 for raising and lowering
the frames h and h', may with very slight modifications be applied to the

page_text: midship propellers. In this case the shaft C³ will take the place of the shaft L,
and the levers b and 6' must be attached to the top edge of A³.
This wheel, and the arm p, both of which are attached to the axis D, D, moving
in the sides of A³, are therefore turned one fourth of a circle, and carry the
propeller shaft by the links r, r, the same circuit or distance, feathering the
one and rendering the other active. The shaft is retained in a fixed position
between each stroke by the brake, Figure 9, applied at y, Figure 12, and
raised by the inclined planes, .
Hitherto I have only considered the case in which the propellers, both at
the stern and midship, begin and end their courses simultaneously, and this in
cases where velocity is required may be the best arrangement, but in tugging,
or with a heavy sea a-head, it would be better that one set of paddles should be
in the middle of its course whilst the other is ending, and vice versa. This
object may be attained by setting the clutches K, K, Figure 1, in such holes,
or in such a position, that the valves moved by the eccentrics on their shafts
shall admit the steam at the half stroke of one of the cylinders, (that nearest
the stern, (for instance,) so that one piston, or that driving the stern set of
propellers, will always have the lead of the midship by half the height of the
cylinder. This arrangement, however, requires that the midship propellers
should cease to act whenever the stern propellers are reversed, as it is impossible
to accomplish this simultaneously in both sets, for one set of propellers would
oppose the other. When this supplementary working of the propellers is
adopted, the conduct of the forward motion does not differ from their simul-
taneous action when the clutches have been adjusted as above described, and
the reversing gear disconnected at, Figure 1. But when it is desired to
propel the vessel astern, the midship propellers must be stopped by shutting
the valves of the forward cylinder and adopting another description of feather-
ing apparatus, which I shall now proceed to describe.
The endless screw F, in Figure 12, must be first thrown out of gear with
the wheel E, and turned clear of the stop h¹. This is effected by securing the
arm p at p', instead of in its previous position, and the ordinary feathering
apparatus of the midship paddles will be entirely at rest. In its place the
T shaped arm w, Figure 7, (also shewn separately in Figure 14,) is keyed to
the end of the shaft which carries the wheel E and the arm p. The projections
on this arm strike on the screws a, a, Figure 12, which are turned or drawn
up so as to come in contact with it at each end of the stroke. This action
raises or depresses the links r, r, Figure 7, in the same manner as the ordinary
feathering apparatus when the course of the vessel is forward. Before this
supplementary feathering apparatus is complete a weight must be drawn to

page_text: one side of the wheel E and arm p', as shown at Figure 13, and the rod p²
attached to the clutches works into E and p, with which these clutches are
kept in contact by the spring at y (Fig. 7). The rods 22 pull back these
clutches when the steam is shut off, being conducted to a convenient place to
be within reach or connected with the rods by which the steam valves are
regulated.
By this use of the rods p, p, the links r, r, would then both fall if the link
of the feathered propeller were not already at its lowest point; the link of the
acting propeller, however, immediately falls, and the propeller becoming feathered
all obstruction to the backing of the vessel by the stern propellers is removed.
When the steam is put on again the first or second movement of the shaft D
brings the clutches into action, and the propellers alternately act and feather as
before. It is obvious that either set of propellers may be thrown out of use by
disconnecting the cylinders and admitting steam to one of them only. The
method of feathering both the midship propellers at once has already been
shown, and the same effect can be produced upon the stern propellers (sec
Figure 10) by shifting (at the time the upper propeller is feathered) the arm c
to the point d of the lower link as shown in Figure 10. In the same way the
stern propellers may both be rendered active, and by a clutch. on the upper
shaft at Figure 10 be turned back flat and nearly close upon the sides of the
vessel when at rest. And supposing a ball and socket joint were placed at the
point y, Figure 4, and the shafts of the propellers were hollow, then, by with-
drawing the core, as shown at y, the propeller may be brought and retained in
contact with the sides of the vessel, and retained there by the use of iron rods
or grips y, such as shewn in Figure 2.
As a matter of precaution in shallow water it may be desirable to fence the
points of the propellers by guides as shewn at R, R, Figures 2 and 3. To
avoid the weight and noise of the chain and rods a, a, Figure 1, small pipes of
water might be substituted, acting on the wheels on the shafts b, b, & V, V,
as shown in Figure 15, where the packing to the plungers is similar to that
used in the well-known Bramah press. By varying the size of the wheels 6, b';
and decreasing the size of the plungers, the effective force on either shaft may
be increased. I do not claim the use of any particular method of working
either the stern or the midship propellers, nor do I confine myself to any par-
ticular position for them in or on the hull of the vessel; all that is essential is
that the propellers should be below the water line. Neither do I confine
myself to any particular number of propellers, nor to using them of both the
descriptions aforesaid, for either both or one only may be used with advantage.
But what I claim as of my invention is, the employment in the propellin

page_text: of vessels of rowing propellers which move only through the part of a circle
at each impulse given them, and are rendered active or passive, as before
described and exemplified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Lund, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirtieth day of October, in the
year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Henry Lund came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.