AN IMPROVED TIDAL POWER MACHINE
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Templar, of Birkdale, Southport, in
the County of Lancaster, Schoolmaster, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED TIDAL POWER MACHINE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Templar at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th April 1874.
I, BENJAMIN TEMPLAR, of Birkdale, Southport, in the County of
3 Lancaster, Schoolmaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "AN IMPROVED TIDAL POWER MACHINE," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of an improved combination of machinery by
which I make use of the lifting power of the tide at or during its flow,
and of the force of gravity at or during its ebb as a motive for
power
setting in motion pumps or other machinery and lifting weights.
The principal part of my contrivance is a water-tight pontoon made
of iron or any other suitable material, and of any convenient size and

page_text: shape. This pontoon is free to move up and down by the help of
perpendicular guide posts or rods. To the upper side of the pontoon a
strong chain is fastened, which passes 'upwards over a wheel or pulley
fixed above high-water mark, then downwards under another wheel or
pulley fixed below low-water mark, and then upwards to the under side
of the pontoon where it is secured. It will be seen from this description
that the pontoon is fastened to the ends of a continuous chain, and that
any motion given to the pontoon either upwards or downwards will
cause the wheels or pulleys round which it passes to revolve. I should
add that somewhere above high-water mark a stop pin or catch is pro-
vided to secure the chain and fix the pontoon at any required height,
and that on the under side of the pontoon there is a valve which can be
opened or closed at pleasure to let water in or out.
The mode of action is as follows:-At low tide the empty pontoon
with its valve closed lies floating on the water. The stop pin being
inserted, the rising tide is unable to raise the pontoon, which is left
below, pulling at its chain and trying to rise. When the tide is
approaching or has approached its highest point the stop pin is removed,
and the pontoon rises through the water with a force cqual to its
"displacement" or "flotation," and in so doing sets in motion both
pulleys, and the machinery connected to the upper one.
It is an important feature in my Invention that the pontoon does not
float on the water where the waves would give it a short intermittent
action very trying to machinery, but rises through the water, thereby
giving a steady uniform motion.
When the pontoon has reached its highest point, and is then floating
on the high tide, the valve is opened, the water rushes in, fills it, and
brings its upper part level with the surface of the water. The valve is
then closed, and the stop pin inserted to hold the pontoon in this
position. As the tide falls its leaves the pontoon full of water suspended
in the air; then when the tide has reached or is approaching its lowest
point the stop pin is removed, the pontoon descends with a force equal
to its own weight and the weight of the water it contains, which may be
many tons, and this causes the upper pulley to revolve, and sets in
motion the machinery connected to it. When the pontoon has reached
low-water mark the valve is opened, and the water allowed to escape.
The valve is then closed, the pontoon falls a little further by its own

page_text: weight, and then is secured by the stop pin, when it is ready for the tide
to rise as before. It will be seen from this description that my tidal
machine does not at all depend for its action upon the force of the
waves, but upon the rising and falling of the water. Hence it may
be used wherever the tide rises and falls, and also in connection with
canal locks, and wherever there is an alternato rising and falling of
water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Templar in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 23rd October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
TEMPLAR, of Birkdale, Southport, in the County of Lancaster, School-
master, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, 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 Benjamin Templar, Her special licence
that I, the said Benjamin Templar, my executors; administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Benjamin Templar, 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, exercisc,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
TIDAL POWER MACHINE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Benjamin Templar, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to bo performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Templar, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention consists of an improved combination of
machinery by which I make use of the lifting power of the tide at or
during its flow, and of the force of gravity at or during its cbbas a
motive power for setting in motion pumps or other machinery and for
lifting weights.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I will
proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
The principal part of my Invention consists of an iron pontoon A,
which may be made of any convenient shape or size. To the upper part
of each end of this pontoon a strong chain or rope B is attached, which
passes upwards over a wheel or pulley C, the axle of which is supported
in suitable bearings placed above high-water mark; then downwards
under another pulley D below low-water mark; then upwards again and
secured to the under side of the pontoon. The chains B are made by
preference of spaced links fitting on cogs on the wheels or pulleys C.
The pontoon A may be kept vertical by means of the uprights E, E,
forming part of a pier or other structure, and the guide rollers F, F, or
in any other convenient manner.
In Fig. 1 the empty pontoon is shown floating on the water at low
tide. As the tide rises the pontoon has a tendency to rise with it, and if
allowed to rise would be subject to the tossing of the waves; to prevent
this a stop pin or catch is inserted into one of the wheels above high-
water mark. This stop pin or catch being inserted the tide is allowed
to rise while the pontoon remains immersed, as shown in Fig. 2, being
held under water by the lower part of the chain B. When the tide has
risen to or nearly to high-water mark, the stop pin is removed, and the
pontoon rises through the water, and in rising pulls the chain B in the
directions shewn by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 2, and thereby sets in
motion the pulleys or wheels C fixed on the axle X, and with them the
toothed wheel H. which is fixed on the same axle as the pulleys. or
wheels C. This toothed wheel H may then be made to set in motion a
train of any required number of wheels and pinions, as K, L, M, with
which may be connected pumps or any other machines required to be
set in motion.

page_text: When the pontoon rises to or above the surface at high water, as
shewn in Fig. 3, an attendant opens a valve P, see Fig. 6, in the under
side of the pontoon for the admission of water, and a valve O on the
upper side to allow the escape of air during the filling. These valves
may be constructed as shewn in Fig. 6, or in any other convenient way;
the eccentric catch S jointed to the valve spindle can be opened by a
cord from above when the pontoon is down. As the pontoon fills it
sinks. When it is quite full and its top level with the water, the stop
pin V is inserted as before, and the valves are closed. As the tide falls
the pontoon A is left suspended in the air and full of water, as shewn in
Fig. 4.
When the tide has fallen some two or three feet or more
the stop pin is removed and the heavy pontoon descends, and while
descending pulls the chains B in the direction shewn by the arrows in
Figs. 3 and 4, and sets in motion the pulleys and wheels as before, but
in the opposite direction. In working pumps this would be no dis-
advantage, but whenever it would be reversing gear may be introduced
between the driving wheel H and the machinery to be driven. When
the pontoon has fallen to within a few inches of the water at low tide,
as shown in Fig. 5, the valves O and P are opened as before, and the
water is allowed to run out. When the pontoon is empty the valves are
closed, and then the pontoon descends a little further by its own weight,
and then the stop pin is inscrted, after which the pontoon is ready for
the rise of the tide, as before described in reference to Fig. 1. The force
with which the pontoon rises is of course equal to the weight of the
water it displaces, less its own weight, and the force with which it
descends is the weight of the water in the pontoon plus the weight of
the pontoon itself. Hence in descending its power is greater than when
ascending, but what is lost during the ascent is gained during the
descent. To compensate for this and to make the pontoon descend as
slowly as it rises, it may be made to do more work when descending, or
a counterpoise may be used on the opposite side of the pulley to the
pontoon itself and of exactly its weight.
I consider it an important feature in my Invention that the pontoon
does not rise on the surface of the water where it would be subject to
the action of the waves, but rises through the water with a steady con-
tinuous motion, and also that in descending it is quito clear of the
surface of the water, and so does not suffer loss of power by either the
vertical or the lateral motion of the waves.

page_text: BENJAMIN TEMPLAR. (L.S.)