IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING AND NAVIGATING SHIPS, BOATS, AND VESSELS BY STEAM AND OTHER MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDRE
HEDIARD, of No. 25, Rue Taitbout, Paris, Gentleman, send greeting.
-
- WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of
January, (One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two,) in the fifteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alexander-Hediard, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power; sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Alexander
Hediard, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander
Hediard, my exors, adors, 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 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 AND NAVIGATING SHIPS, BOATS, AND VESSELS BY STEAM AND OTHER
MOTIVE POWER;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Alexandre Hediard,, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to bo enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alexandre Hediard, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:
8
My Invention consists in constructing an apparatus in which the external
water received by an ingress orifice is projected by pressure suitably obtained
through another elbowed orifice (having its section in due proportion to the
volume of water generated) against the outer water, and thereby directing and
propelling ships, boats, and vessels, in lieu of screws, paddle wheels, and other
propellers hitherto employed, by which an immense economy of room and
cost of machinery is effected. The principle of my Invention, as well as its
application to propulsion, will be better understood by reference to the
accompanying Drawing, in which the same letters of reference represent parts
which are similar.
Figure 1 represents a section amidships of two of the apparatus when set
up; Figure 2, a side elevation of the apparatus between stem and stern of the
ship; Figure 3, a horizontal view or plan of the propeller; Figure 4 shews
a section of the mechanism in the cylinder E for directing the elbowed
orifice C.
The Drawing shews an apparatus constructed on a scale of one fifth of the
natural size of a machine of eight-horse power. A, A, rotary pumps made of
metal, and serving to press and project the ingress water with the necessary
velocity. Any other suitable apparatus for projecting water may be employed
in lieu thereof. B, B, orifices in the bottom of the apparatus through which
the external water enters, the water being introduced by atmospheric pressure
assisted by the aspirating action of the pump. These orifices B, B, are pro-
vided with a grating to prevent the introduction of foreign bodies. C, C,
elbowed egress orifices adapted to the bottom of the cylinder E by means of a
rabbet or rim which permits the egress orifice, similarly provided, to pivot on
it. The said elbowed orifices are provided with a perforated plate I, sus-
ceptible of being changed at discretion to regulate the diameter of the
orifices. D, D, iron rods passing through the lids H, H, fixed at the other
extremity to the top of the elbowed orifice C, which it turns in the desired
direction by means of its handle a. E, E, iron, cylinders placed above the

page_text: floating line of the ship. One of their sides is provided with an orifice for the
passage of water from the pump to the orifice C. The space between the
top H of the cylinder and the orifice for the passage of the water is filled up
by a wooden or metal stopper passed through and moved by the rod D. The
said cylinders also serve to allow the elbowed orifice C to be withdrawn when
required, and in that case the orifices are closed by means of a slide or water
gate G. F, F, shafts put in communication with a steam engine, and
serving to work the apparatus and propel the vessel. G, G, registers or
water gates for closing the orifices B and C when it is necessary to withdraw
the orifice C for the purpose of repair or otherwise. H, H, covers adapted to
the cylinders E, E, by means of screws removable at option to permit the
passage of the orifice C.. I, perforated metal plate, shewn in plan and section
in the Drawing, adapted to the elbowed orifice C in order to modify the
volume of the jet of water. This plate, as herein-before stated, may be
changed at will according to the required diameter of the opening. The
action of the apparatus is as follows:-The water enters the orifice "B,
passes into the pump A, which, being put. in motion by the shaft. F, projects
the water through the cylinder E, and through the orifice C, on to the outer
water, and by means of the rod D the elbowed orifice receives and transmits
the requisite direction to the water for the propulsion of the vessel. Thus, if
the jet of water be sent backwards in the direction of the keel the ship will
move forward, or if the jet be directed in the direction of the keel towards the
head she will move backwards. The ship may be at once directed on the
larboard or starboard, or on any other required tack, by giving the orifice the
requisite degree of obliquity. It easy to understand that the size and
capacity of the apparatus may be varied, and any number be employed,
according to the dimensions and power of the vessel to be propelled.
And having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to
the precise details herein laid down, so long as the general principles be
retained for carrying out the object of my Invention. But what I do claim as
my Invention, and intended to be protected by the said Letters Patent, is,―
Firstly, the construction of an apparatus in which the external water
received by an ingress orifice is projected through an egress orifice of a smaller
dimension against the outer water in. the required direction. for the propulsion
and navigation of boats, ships, and vessels, as herein-before described and
referred to in the figures of the Drawing.......
Secondly, the regulating the volume and velocity of the projected jet of
water by means of plates of various dimensions adapted to the egress orifice,

page_text: as herein-before-described and referred to in the Figures 1, '2; and 4 of the
Drawing.
. "In witness: whereof, I, the said Alexandre Hediard, have hereunto! set
my hand and seal, this Second day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two..
bis
ALEXANDRE (L.s.) HEDIARD.
Taken and acknowledged by Alexandre
Hediard, (party hereto,) at Paris, in the
Republic of France, the 2nd day of July,
17

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the oath of Peter Armand Le
Comte de Fontainemoreau the Specification aforesaid was enrolled word for
word as above written. And also the Specification aforesaid' was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.