CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER WHEELS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, of 4.
South Street, Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris.
Patent Agent, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER
WHEELS." A communication.
Sealed the 8th March 1854, and dated the 2nd January 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand le Comte
de Fontaine Moreau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 2nd January 1854.
I, PETER ARMAND LE CONTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, Patent, Agent," do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
WATER WHEELS" to be as follows:-
The Invention communicated to me consists in constructing water wheels,
with moveable paddles, by which great part of the resistance exerted on ordinary
water wheels is obviated.
Figure 1 represents a water wheel, having paddles P, P', hinged on
pivots a, u.
Figure 2. is a plan of one of the paddles which should fill entirely the
channel where the wheel is rotating.

page_text: Figure 3 represents a wheel, the framing of which is composed of several
rings c, c'.
Figure 4 is a transverse section of a part of the wheel, on double the
scale of the other Figures. The paddles move on bolts crossing the iron
bearings b, c, a, i, Figure 3. The paddles P, P', are jointed on a, so
that the side P is longer than the side P', which is supported by the
transverse pin i, as represented by the positions 1., II, III, IV., V. The
other side Passumes a vertical hanging position until the heavier side is
compelled to bear upon the pin i, or upon the internal framing, as represented
by the positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, when the greater weight on the side P causes
the paddle to swing, as shown at 1.
The
Figure 5 represents a wheel of a similar kind to the preceding, the
frame A, B, of which is constructed with a thin cylindrical surface.
bearings a, i, b, are fixed to the two extremities or bases of the cylinder sur-
rounding the paddles P, P, which are suspended by the two pivots i, to two
opposite bearings, so that the part P, i, of the paddle is double the length of
the portion P, i. The elevation b, i, of the bearings, being shorter than the
small side P, i, of the paddles, causes them to bear alternately on each side of
the cylindrical surface of the wheel; they will be suspended as shewn in
Figure 5, and swing like the paddles, Figure 3, after having passed the
position XII.
The paddles are made of wood or metal, and vary their position according
as they are set upon axes or pivots, and when the wheel is revolving they
receive successively the action of the water, which causes them to fall back
after exerting their power.
To obtain for the paddles all the power of the fall, it will be well to make
circular water channels of the same curve as the wheel.
Angular or curved paddles can be constructed, and the mode of joining them
herein-before described can be varied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 1st July 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
ARMAND LE COMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street, Finsbury.
London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters

page_text: Patent, bearing date the Second day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Ier reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, Her special license that I, the
said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de
Fontaine Moreau, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WATER WHEELS," (communicated to me by a foreigner residing
abroad), upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter Armand
le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, 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 Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say-
.
The Invention consists in constructing water wheels with suspended paddles,
in such a manner that great part of the resistance to which ordinary water
wheels are subjected is obviated.
In the known systems of water wheels the paddle on rising, after passing
the vertical, lifts up by its surface the weight of the water in which it is
immersed.
This loss of power, which is considerable under ordinary circumstances when
only the lower paddles plunge in water, becomes gradually greater when the
water rises to a point where the resistance which forms equilibrium with the
power exerted renders motion impossible, and in which case the only remedy
is to clevate the wheels to re-establish the means of motion, which is not
always practicable.
The articulated paddle wheels shewn in the accompanying Drawing obviates
this defect, and permits the motion of the wheels, whatever be the level of the

page_text: Figure 1 represents a wheel, having suspended paddles P hinged on
the pivots ut, a.
:.
Figure 2 is a plan of one of the paddles P, which, if the wheel works
in a channel, should fill it entirely.
Figure 3 represents a wheel, the frame of which C, C, is composed of
several rings.
Figure 4 is a section of part of the wheel (upon double the scale of the
other Figures).
The paddles pivot on bolts connecting the iron bearings b, c, a, i, of Figure 3.
The paddles P, P, of Figure 4 hinge on a, so that the side P be longer
than the side P¹, which bears upon the transverse bolt i, as represented by the
positions I., II., III., IV., V., in Figure 3. The other side Passumes à
hanging position, which it maintains until the heavier side bears upon the
bolt i, or on the internal frame, as represented by the positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6, of the said Figure's, when the surplus-weight on the side P causes the
paddle to swing and assume the position shewn at 1.
Figure 5 represents a wheel of a similar construction to that of the preceding,
the frame A, B, of which consists of a thin cylinder: The bearings a, i, b, are
fixed to the two extremities or bases of the cylinder, holding the paddles P, P¹,
suspended on the pivot i, between the two bearings, so that the part P, 7, of the
paddle is double the length of the part P, . The height b, i, of the bearings,
being less than the short side P¹, i, of the paddles, causes the latter to bear
alternately on each side of the cylindrical surface of the wheel. The paddles
will hang in the position shewn, and swing similarly to the paddles of Figure 3,
after passing the position XII.
The paddles may be made of wood or metal; their position is varied according
to their arrangement upon the axes or pivots.
During the revolution of the wheel they present themselves successively to
the action of the water, which causes them to fall back after performing their
stroke.
Circular water channels may be formed in the earth of the same curve with
the wheel, in which it would receive the full impetus of the flow without being
exposed to the resistance of the back water.
Angular or curved paddles can be employed in lieu of flat paddles, and the
mode of constructing the bearings may be varied.
And having thus described the nature of the said 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, as the mode of construction may
3

page_text: be varied, so long as the peculiar feature of the Invention be retained.. But
what I claim as new, and intended to be protected by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, is,―
The construction of water wheels with suspended paddles, as herein-before
described and referred to in the several Figures of the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine..
Moreau, have hereto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of
June. in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four.
Witness,
T. H. HADGLEY.
L' DE FONTAINE MÉREAU. (L.B.)