In- PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VESSELS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "In-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VESSELS."-A communication
from abroad by Eugene Bachelier, Machinist, of 29, Boulevart St.
Martin, Paris.
Sealed the 8th October 1867, and dated the 12th April 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th April 1867.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VESSELS," to be as
follows:-
Motion is produced by means of one or two steam cylinders A placed
horizontally, and acting on the same horizontal shaft B, which rests in
bearings fixed to plate and T-iron beams; this shaft carries several cranks
which produce a to-and-fro movement; it also carries a crank arm at either
extremnity. Another shaft C, similar to that above described, with the
exception of the connecting rod cranks is placed parallel to it upon the same
longitudinal beams and in the same manner. The two shafts B and C are

page_text: coupled together by means of beams and pallets forming box-like com-
partments, joining the cranks and crank arms in such manner that motion is
transmitted from shaft B to shaft C, the whole producing a to-and-fro
movement. G, Ry wheel, counterbalancing the pallets and regulating the
working of the machine; h, h¹, h", ", beams made of plate and T iron,
supporting the shafts B and C and also the framework of the cylinders;
J, bulkhead, reaching from the hold of the ship to the beams of the deck to
strengthen and unite the longitudinal beams; at the lower part of this bulkhead
and in front of each box-like compartment is an opening of circular form when
viewed transversely, and of the form shown in the Drawing when seen
longitudinally; this opening allows the water to enter and to run out without
the least resistance. K is a similar bulkhead enclosing the working parts;
L, L, side beams fixed to the sides of the boat by means of tie pieces in order
to strengthen that part, it being unsupported by the carline; M, tubular
boiler, which may be placed in any other manner according to the form and
disposition of the vessel. The vessel may be of ordinary form, either with a
keel or flat-bottomed, space being provided. for the beams which form canals
for the passage of the water and the boxes or pallets.
Figure 5 shows the disposition of connecting beams with two pallets only
between them, forming a box-like compartment, which being sufficiently rigid
works as a connecting rod.
Figure 2 shows the same principle of a to-and-fro movement by means of
spur gearing; this modification requires but a single horizontal shaft, and if
required but a single engine. The horizontal shaft O is supported on
beams P, P, P", P, P, P5, P, P7; it transmits motion to the spur
wheels R, which are of equal or different diameters, as the case may be.
Small shafts S carrying cranks are placed in front of these spur wheels R;
they are coupled to said spur wheels by the connecting beams and pallets, the
whole actuated by the driving shaft, producing the same movement as above
described. In this case the pallets are fixed at one side only, forming a set
on each beam working alternately, one set interlapping in the other, thus
allowing the number of pallet frames to be increased without increasing the
width of the vessel. J, fly wheels similar to those shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3 shows a longitudinal vertical section of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a
transverse section of the same.
The characteristic principle of this Invention consists in the application of
an alternate to-and-fro motion imparted to the pallets or propulsory organs in
indeterminate number working submerged for the propulsion and emerged for
the return successively in special canals formed in the hull corresponding to

page_text: each set of connecting beams and pallets. This system may be applied either
towards the stem or the stern of a vessel; it is especially applicable to
sea-going vessels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Clark, 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, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VESSELS," a communication to me from
abroad by Eugène Bachelier, Machinist, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 William Clark, do hereby, declare
the nature of the 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 Two Sheets of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention re'ates to improvements in the mode of propelling vessels
by steam power, which Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
Figure 1 showing a plan of the vessel with its propelling apparatus; Figure 3

page_text: a central vertical section of same; Figures 4 and 5 represent respectively
a transverse section of the vessel and separate view of the propelling apparatus,
while Figure 2 shows a modification of the apparatus. Motion is produced
by means of one or two steam engines A, placed horizontally and acting on
the same horizontal shaft B, which rests in bearings fixed to plate and T-iron
beams, either solid or hollow; this shaft carries several cranks which produce
the to-and-fro movement of the propellers; it also carries a crank arm at
either extremity. Another shaft C similar to that above described, with the
exception of the engine cranks, is placed parallel to it upon the same longi-
tudinal beams and in the same manner. The two shafts B and C are coupled
together by means of bars and pallets, forming box-liko compartments of plate
iron, connecting the cranks and crank arms in such manner that the motion
is transmitted from shaft B to shaft C, the whole producing a to-and-fro
motion; the number of these propellers, as also their dimensions, are varied
according to the power to be produced. G, fly-wheel counter balancing the
pallets and regulating the working of the engines; h, h', l, h³, beams made of
plate and T-iron supporting the shafts B and C, and also the framework of the
steam cylinders; J, bulkhead, reaching from the hold of the ship to the deck
At the lower part of
beams to strengthen and unite the longitudinal beams.
this bulkhead and in front of each box-like compartment is an opening of
circular form when viewed transversely, and of the form shown in the Drawing
when seen longitudinally. This opening allows the water to enter and to run
in and out without the least resistance; K is a similar bulkhead enclosing the
working parts; L, L, side beams fixed to the sides of the boat by means of
the carlines;
iron ties in order to strengthen that part, it being unsupported
M, furnace and tubular boiler, which may be placed in any other manner
according to the form and disposition of the vessel. The vessel may be of the
ordinary form, either with a keel or flat bottomed, space being provided for
the beams which form channels for the passage of the water and the boxes or
pallets.
Figure 5 shows the disposition of propellers forming a box-like compart-
ment, which being sufficiently rigid works as a connecting rod.
Figure 2 shows a modification of the same principle of a to-and-fro movement
driven by means of independent spur gearing; this modification requires but
a single horizontal shaft, and it requires but a single engine. The horizontal
shaft O is supported by beams P, P1, P2, P3, P, P, P, P, P, arranged in
a similar manner to those before described. This shaft transmits motion to
the spur wheels R of equal or different diameters as the case may Le. Small
shafts S carrying cranks are placed in front of these spur wheels R, with which

page_text: they are coupled by the connecting bars of the pallets, the whole being actuated
by the driving shaft and producing the same movement as above described. In
this case the pallets are fixed at one side only, forming a set on each bar, one
set interlapping in the other, thus allowing the number of pallet frames to be
increased without increasing the width of the vessel. T, fly wheels similar to
those shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3 shows a longitudinal vertical section of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a
transverse section of the same.
Sheet 2 represents a second modification of this improved system of
propeller.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the vessel taken on line 1, 2, of
Figure 2; Figure 2 is a plan of the vessel and propeller; lastly, Figure 3
is a section on the line 3, 4, Figure 1. In these three Figures the same
letters of reference indicate like parts.
A, A, B, B, C, C, D, D¹, pallets or blades to which are imparted two
rectangular movements dependent the one upon the other, the one alter-
nately in a vertical direction, the other alternately in a horizontal direction.
They act gradually on the water in the longitudinal direction of the vessel.
E, E, G, G, H, H, I, 1, connecting rods to which the pallets are
rigidly fixed; J, J, K, K, L, L, M, M', cranks giving motion to the
pallets, to the crank pins of which are attached the connecting rods above
mentioned; N, N¹, 0, 0', P, P, Q, Q, auxiliary cranks receiving motion
from the first by means of the connecting rods, to which they are also
attached. All these cranks are of equal length; those indicated by the
same letters being in the same plane, the first receiving continuous rotary
motion by means of pinions R, R, S, S', keyed on their shafts and gearing
with the wheels T, T¹, fixed on the driving shaft of the steam engine. The
arms of the cranks divide the circle into as many equal parts as there
are series of pallets. By series of pallets I mean those which are indicated
by the same letter, or, which is the same thing, those which are governed
by the cranks having their arms in the same plane; V, V, steam boiler;
X, steam chest; Y, boiler chimney; Z, Z, Z3, Z3, compartments in
which the pallets are worked. The propelling pallets may be made of wood
or metal, or of a combination of these materials with others and of variable
forms and dimensions. I will not undertake to describe all the advantages of
an apparatus of this construction, and the application of a similar movement
of which it is easy to appreciate all the importance, for on examining the
system with attention it is easy to understand its effect; no power is lost,
and all tends to advance the vessel according to the water line; at same time

page_text: I reserve to myself the application of this system either at the stem or at the
stern of a vessel, it being especially applicable to sea-going vessels.
Having described the nature of this Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the berein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the improved
mode of propelling vessels by steam power at high speeds by means of the
apparatus, with continuous and independent action herein-before described
and represented in the accompanying Drawings. The chief feature consists
in imparting a to-and-fro motion to propelling surfaces or pallets of indefinite
number, which propel the vessel while alternately immersed in the water
contained in the channels provided for each propeller frame at any suitable
point in the hull of the vessel, all as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
W. CLARKA. (L.S.)