IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Feather Wilkinson, of Leeds, in the
County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING
MOTIVE POWER."
Scaled the 2nd April 1875, and dated the 2nd February 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Feather Wil-
kinson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 2nd February 1875.
I, JOHN FEATHER WILKINSON, of Leeds, in the County of York, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER," to be as follows:-
This Invention is intended for the purpose of utilizing the force and
power of the tide and securing an uniform and continued rotary motion
from its action in rising from low water into any given reservoir, lake,
river, stream, natural or artificial, and on its return therefrom.
In carrying out the Invention I employ a water wheel, this wheel
being caused to rise and fall with the tide by means of two air-tight-
:

page_text: cylinders, of sufficient size to raise the wheel and its gearing, the shaft
of the wheel and the gearing and shafting required for the utilization of
the power resting on the cylinders. These cylinders float in pits or
cisterns having sufficient communication with the rising or falling water,
and are provided with friction rollers or small guide wheels running on
iron plates fixed to the masonry of the tank or pit for the purpose of
securing their stability. The power required may be increased by more
deeply submerging the wheel by weighting the cylinders and feathering
the wheel, either from the inside or outside of the rim. The cylinders will
displace a body of water equal to their own weight with the weight of
the wheel with its gearing and the vertical shaft, this displacement may
be increased by weighting the cylinders so as to bring the wheel deeper
into the water, in which case a feathered wheel may be preferable, and
in case of accident the superincumbent weight being removed from the
cylinders the wheel would be clear of the water and the whole apparatus
would be at rest. The shaft of the wheel has a bearing upon each
cylinder and works between guides having friction rollers. The power
thus obtained may be utilized by means of two upright shafts with bevil
wheels from the main shaft, and bevil wheels on the top of main beam
through which the upright shafts pass. The shape of the cylinder may
be varied to suit circumstances, and the culverts and passage of wator
may be made to suit the weight and power required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Feather Wilkinson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FEATHER WILKINSON, of Leeds, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of February, in the year,
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the 38th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Feather Wilkinson; Her special license
that I, the said John Feather Wilkinson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Feather Wilkinson,

page_text: my executors, administrators, or 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 “Im-
PROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Feather Wilkinson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal,
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 John Feather Wilkinson, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say:-
My said Invention has for its object the utilization of the forco and
power of the tide, and securing a uniform and continued rotary 'motion
from its action during its rise and fall; and this object is attained by the
employment at the mouth or entrance of any lake, river, stream,
estuary, harbour, reservoir (natural or artificial), wherein a tidal motion
takes place of a water wheel which is caused to rise and fall with the
tide by means of two or more air-tight cylinders of sufficient size to
raise the wheel with the gearing and shafting required for trans-
mitting the motion imparted to the wheel by the impulsive force of the
current.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a vertical section of two embank-
ments between which the apparatus is situate, and shewing the wheel
and cylinders and the gearing and shafting for transmitting motion.

page_text: Figure 2 is a plan of the mouth or entrance of any estuary, lake,
reservoir, or similar place, shewing the wheel in position and the
positions of the cylinders in the embankments, the latter being indicated
in horizontal section; Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 1, but illus-
'trating a modified arrangement; Figures 4, 5, and 6, are detail views to
be herein-after more fully referred to. -A is the water wheel mounted on
a shaft a which is supported on bearings b, b, on the cylinders B, B, and
is provided with bevel wheels c, c, engaging with corresponding bevel
wheels d, d, carried on the lower end of vertical shafts e, e. These
shafts are provided on their upper end with bevel wheels f,f, in gear
with other bevel wheels g, 9, which are mounted either on short shafts h,
hori-
whence motion is imparted by means of spur gearing i to an upper
zontal shaft k, as shewn in Figure 1, or on the horizontal shaft k itself,
as shewn in Figure 3, according as the particular circumstances of the
case may render necessary, the motion being transmitted from such shaft
by means of pullies and belts or otherwise wherever required. The
shafts h, k, are suitably supported in bearings 1, 1, on the plate m which
is carried upon the top of the embankments C, C., By means of the
arrangement herein-before described the wheel A is sustained by the
cylinders B, B, so as to rise and fall with them according to the tide,
whilst the impulse of the current acts upon such wheel so as to impart
rotatory motion thereto. The vertical shafts e, e, are either supported
by the cylinders B, B, so as to partake of their motion by resting upon
the top of such cylinders, as shewn in Figure 1, or the shafts e, e, are
arranged at the side of the cylinders, as shewn in Figure 3, suitable
upper bearings n, n, and footstep bearings o, o, being in both cases
provided..
.
In the arrangement, Figure 1, each of the bevel wheels d is cast on
the shaft e and the bevel wheels f,f, are each fitted in such a manner
that the shaft e is free to slide through it as the cylinder rises,
whereas in the modification, Figure 3, the wheels f, f, are fast, and the
shafts e, e, slide through their respective bevel wheels d, d. In order to
admit of this sliding motion the shafts e, e, are grooved, and the wheels d
orf, as the case may be, are attached to their corresponding shaft by
means of keys having friction rollers so as to work easily in the groove,
whilst at the same time maintaining the key tight in the wheel. The
which are
shaft a of the water wheel A is fitted in sliding blocks p, p,
provided with friction rollers working between guides in frames q, q,

page_text: built in the embankments C, C, so as to admit of the wheel rising and
falling with facility during its rotation. The cylinders B, B, float in
pits or tanks D, D, formed in the embankments C, C, and communi-
cating with the rising and falling water by means of culverts 1, 1, and
the cylinders are provided with friction rollers or small guide wheels 8, 8,
running on iron plates.t, t, fixed to the masonry of the tank or pit for
the purpose of securing their stability. E, E, (Figure 2) represent lock
gates, which may be closed either on one side or on both sides of the
wheel in the case of an accident occurring or of repairs being necessary.
.
The cylinders will displace a body of water equal to their own weight
with the weight of the wheel with its gearing and the vertical shaft or
shafts when carried thereon. This displacement may be increased by
weighting the cylinder so as to more deeply submerge the wheels. In
this case the floats u, u, of the wheel A may be feathered either by hinging
them at the external rim v, as shown in Figure 5, or at the internal
rim w, as shewn in Figure 6. Suitable stops may be provided in order to
.form a bearing for the floats when acted upon by the current, or such
floats may be caused to assume the required positions as the wheel rotates
by the employment of eccentric or equivalent mechanical means. In the
position of the floats, shewn by the full lines in my Drawings, the
current is assumed as acting upon the wheel A in the direction indicated
by the arrows y, y, and the wheel consequently turns in the direction
indicated by the arrows z, z. When however the tide changes, the direc-
tion of the floats is reversed either under the action of the current or by
mechanical means as before mentioned, and they then assume the
position represented in the case of the lower floats by dotted lines in
Figures 5 and 6, so as to cause the wheel to rotate in the opposite direc-
tion to that indicated by the arrows z, z.
Should an accident occur it will be simply necessary to remove the
superincumbent weight from the cylinders in order to cause the wheel
to be clear of the water when the whole of the apparatus will be at rest.
The shape of the cylinders may be varied according to circumstances,
and the culverts and passage for water may be made to suit the weight
and power required.
This Invention is equally applicable to any stream however variable
may be the volume of water, as all liability to its becoming water-
logged as is the case with the ordinary wheel is entirely obviated, the