IMPROVED MEANS OF TRANSFORMING THE EBB AND FLOW OF THE TIDE INTO A CONTINUOUS AND CONSTANT HYDRAULIC POWER
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Davies at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th March
1864. A communication from abroad by François Alfred Tallendeau,
of Nantes, in the Empire of France.
I, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVED MEANS OF TRANSFORMING THE EBB AND FLOW OF THE TIDE
INTO A CONTINUOUS AND CONSTANT HYDRAULIC POWER," (a commuination to me
from abroad by François Alfred Tallendeau, of Nantes, in the Empire of
France,) to be as follows:-
This power can be produced on any land communicating with the sea or an
arm of the sea, and particularly upon small bays or creeks, where it can be
established with great economy. It consists essentially in the formation by
means of embankments of two basins separated from each other by a wide
causeway, upon which is established the works to be driven by the power
produced. A watercourse or channel traverses this causeway connecting the
basins together, and contains a hydraulic motor of some kind, whether a
vertical wheel or a turbine. One of the basins (called the upper basin) is
intended to contain the supply of water necessary to drive the works during a
maximum time of twelve hours. It communicates with the sea by means of
hinged clack doors mounted in the embankment which separates it therefrom.
These clack doors open inwards into the basin; they allow the water of the

page_text: sea to flow therein when the level of the flowing sea reaches or exceeds the
level of the water contained in the basin, and they close as soon as the level
of the ebbing sea falls below that of the water in the basin. These clack
doors open and close by themselves by the difference of pressure which results
from the variations of the respective levels of the water in the basin and in the
The high tide occurring every twelve hours, and the clack doors of the
upper basin being sufficiently numerous to allow of the easy renewal of the
supply of water expended, this basin will never be without water. It contains
on the one hand a supply of water more than sufficient for twelve hours' work,
and this supply is renewed before it is completely exhausted. The second
basin (which is likewise separated from the sea by an embankment) is
intended to receive the water which flows from the upper basin after passing
through the hydraulic motive-power machine. The bottom of this basin is
level with low water, it has at least the same surface of water as the former.
It communicates with the sea by means of clack doors formed in the lower
part of the embankment, the sill of the said doors being no higher than the
bottom of the basin. These clack doors open outwards to the sea, and allow
the water contained in the lower basin to escape when the level of the ebbing
sea is below its own. The clack doors are sufficiently numerous to allow the
basin to empty itself completely at low water, which occurs every twelve
hours. They close-by themselves as soon as the level of the flowing sea rises
above that of the water in the basin. The water in passing from the higher
into the lower basin traverses the watercourse, and passing through the
bydraulic motor communicates the amount of power and motion thereto
required to drive the works, and this motion will be continuous and constant.
In addition to the motor power thus obtained, the basins may be converted
into oyster and mussel beds and reservoirs for fish.