IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING WAVE POWER FOR PROPELLING VESSELS AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 58, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR UTILIZING WAVE POWER FOR PROPELLING VESSELS AND OTHER
PURPOSES."-A communication from abroad by George Boucher de
Boucherville, of Quebec, in the Province of Quebec, and Dominion
of Canada.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Clark at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 30th July 1878, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 58, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVED Appa-
RATUS FOR UTILIZING WAVE POWER FOR PROPELLING VESSELS AND OTHER PURPOSES,"

page_text: and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same,
and have made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to
me from abroad by George Boucher de Boucherville, of Quebec, in the
Province of Quebec, and Dominion of Canada.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):―
The object of this Invention is to utilize the pitching and rolling
motion of a ship or vessel on the water, for furnishing power for
propelling the vessel, and for other purposes, and it consists in the
employment of one or more weighted floors or platforms suspended in
the vessel in such a manner that the floor or platform may oscillate
freely as the ship pitches backward and forward, which communicates
motion to the propelling screw or wheel by means of mechanism herein-
after described or by any equivalent mechanism.
In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 represents a side elevation,
and Figure 2 a plan view of the improved motor. These Figures
illustrate the main features of the Invention, but show only one of the
modes by which the principle may be applied and the result produced.
'
B is the oscillating platform or floor. Two of the suspension bars D,
D³, project above the pivot of suspension and act as levers whose upper
or superior arms are connected with the levers R, R³, by means of con-
necting rods 14. These levers R, R³, encircle and turn freely upon the
shaft F, which shaft is transversely placed across the hold of the ship.
Each of the levers R, R¹, has a pawl T, T₁, acting in reversed positions
upon the ratchet wheels S, S¹. These ratchets are attached to the
vertical bevel wheels U, U¹, also loose or free on the shaft F. At each
oscillation of the weighted floor or platform B, an alternate backward
and forward movement is communicated to the levers R, R³, whose
pawls acting alternately on the ratchet wheels S, S¹, transmit a con-
tinuous rotary motion to the bevel wheel or pinion V, which is geared

page_text: between the bevel wheels U, U¹, thus turning the propelling screw at
the end of the propellor shaft 11. To give the screw or propelling
wheel sufficient velocity the gearing may be multiplied to any extent,
the relative proportions of which will give the required result.
In order to continue the impulse given to the screw beyond the
oscillation of the floor B (which may be preferable) I would use two
or more floors P, P¹, Figure 3, each of which are to be equally and
sufficiently loaded with freight &c., so that in their vertical movement
of descent each in turn may set in motion the levers R, R³, with which
they are each properly connected. Instead of employing the two wheels
U, U¹, in this case it is better to use only one wheel U on each side of
which are attached the ratchet wheels S, S¹. The pawls t, t, of the
levers R, R³, acting in this case in the same direction, but alternately upon
the ratchet wheels S, S³, (see detached view Figure 4,) when the floor P,
or P¹, to which they are connected descends so that they communicate a
continuous motion to the bevel wheel U, which transmits it to the
bevelled pinion V of the wheel 1 geared to pinion 2 of wheel 3, which is
geared to pinion 4 of wheel 5, which is geared to wheel 6, whose inferior
portion 7 is beveled and can be alternately geared upon the bevel wheels
8 and 9 fixed at each end of the sleeve 10, which may be moved and
caused to slide by means of the shifting lever Z upon the shaft 11 so as
to reverse the motion of the screw. The floors P, P¹, are placed side by
side and ascend and descend vertically along proper guides like Q, Q.
They may be arranged to oscillate if the dimensions of the ship or
circumstances permit, taking care to give sufficient flexibility to the
joints and pivoting of the bars and levers to avoid torsion. The floors
P, P¹, are suitably attached at n, n³, to the beams m, m, one of which is
connected at E with the lever E, E¹, and the other at L to the lever
L, IA.
Two of the bars 0, 0, D, D³, which are diagonally opposed to each
other, and which help to suspend the oscillating floor B, are bent at
right angles and inversely so that their extremities O¹ and D¹ may
connect on a same transverse line with the ends E and I of the levers
E, E, and L, L, in order that whether the oscillation of the floor B is
forward or backward either of the bars will force down the arm E¹ or L'
to which it is connected, and thus lift un its corresponding Anna Dos Pl

page_text: leaving the other floor free to descend and to cause by its weight the
motion of the lever R or R³, to which it is connected to move, and thus
transmit the movement to the screw.
The action of the oscillating floor B being calculated to lift up
alternately the floors P, P¹, and to leave the one free to descend by its
own weight when the other is lifted up the point of connection C¹ with
E and D¹ with L ought to be so arranged that its action may be
instantaneous upon either lever whose arms E¹ or L' has to be lowered,
whilst on the contrary the other arm is to be free so as to let the floor to
which it is in connection move down freely by its own weight, and so
regularly work the screw. To obtain that result the following mechanism
or its equivalent may be employed. I bend the ends E¹, L, as at 12, in
Figures 5 and 6, and notch them as seen, and attach a strong pair of
tongs 13 whose articulated lower portion is encircled loosely around the
end of the bended arm C³ of the suspending bar C, C³, (with another pair
of similar tongs encircling the end D of the suspending bar D, D¹,) the
upper portion of the tongs being made to grasp firmly the notches of the
bent part 12 of E¹ or L³, and force it down whenever the oscillation of
the floor B is forward, which causes the tongs to shut and grasp.
Whenever the oscillation is in the opposite direction the spring 15,
Figure 5, opens the tongs, setting free the arm E¹ and the floor P, which
then descends and drives the screw, thus avoiding any jerks and stoppage
of the screw when the floor B ceases moving at the end of each
oscillation. The part 12 bent and notched ought to be of a sufficient
length to be always within the grasping power of the tongs, and a
sufficient space should be left between the spring 15 and the pivot of the
tongs so that on the sudden change of oscillation, and consequent rise of the
end of the bended bar C¹ it should not strike on the spring or lever E³.
The same mechanism and similar tongs acting on the other lever L, L¹³,
will cause an alternate and regular motion whether the waves are long
or short, or the oscillations are regular or irregular. Instead of the
levers R, R', a cord, chain, or strap may be wound round a roller at each
end of the shaft F, and after passing over a separate pulley fixed above
each of the floors P, P¹, is properly attached to each floor. The pawls
t, t, are then attached firmly on the rollers on each side of the wheel U
working alternately in the same direction upon the ratchet wheels S, S¹,
fixed on each side of the wheel U which is loose on the shaft F: Thẻ

page_text: cord is wound in the same direction on each roller and the pawls are
made to act in the same direction, that is, when the floor P or P¹, to
which the cord is attached descends, in order to wind up on its roller
the cord which has been unwound by the descending floor to which it is
attached, a spring or its equivalent or a small weight attached to the
roller, and which was wound whilst the other was unwinding being free
to move winds the cord whilst its floor is being lifted up by the
oscillation of the floor B. Whatever power is communicated by the
oscillation of the floor B which is not needed for the working of the
screw or side wheels may be applied at setting in motion any other
mechanism which may be placed either within or without the ship, by
having a proper mechanism for transmitting the motive powèr.
Nothing prevents the use of several oscillating floors in the same ship,
and using also several pairs of vertical moving floors besides P, P¹, abovë
described, if space and circumstances permit, it would then only be
necessary to properly gange them so that they should not impede the
regular working of each other.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would observe that I do not claim
as novel the idea of propelling ships or setting in motion any mechanism
by means of weights, nor broadly the idea of actuating mechanism by
the motion of the waves; but what I claim as the Invention and desire
to secure by Letters Patent is,-
1st. The use in ships or floating vessels of one or more oscillating
weighted platforms or floors so suspended as to be oscillated by the
pitching motion of the ship or vessel, and so as to impart motion
to propelling wheels, screws, or other mechanism, substantially as
described.
2ndly. The use of one or more vertically moving weighted floors or
platforms so arranged that each may be made to impart motion to pro-
pelling wheels, or screws, or other mechanism, substantially in the manner
described.
Brdly. The use of bent bars O, O³, D, D³, of the oscillating floor or
platform as levers, and connecting them properly to the levers E, F, L,
5 I, by means of tongs 13 pivoted as described with the spring 15, so as
to lift up alternately at each change of oscillation of the floor B or

page_text: pitching of the ship one of the floors P, P¹, and letting free the one that
is not lifted to descend and by its own gravity to impart motion to the
mechanism, screw, or wheels, the whole substantially as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
mechanism, screw, or wheels, the whole substantially as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
HENRY W. DEWEY,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
W". CLARK. (L.S.)