CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Dominique Girard, Civil Engineer, of
Paris, in the French Empire, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES."
Sealed the 11th March 1854, and dated the 28th September 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Dominique
Girard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th September 1853.
I, LOUIS DOMINIQUE GIRARD, Civil Engineer, of Paris, in the
French Empire, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in obtaining power from a river or running.
stream by placing in and across the same a wheel, on the circumference
of which are placed inclined or screw blades. The water, which is
prevented from approaching the centre by a suitably formed screen,
proceeds to the lower part of the circumference of the wheel, and thus
acts on the blades, and gives motion to the wheel, which is arranged in
such a manner that the series of passages between the blades become
larger and larger as the water recedes from the entrance. On the
periphery of the wheel may be formed teeth to give motion to another

page_text: wheel at right angles to the first, and thus transmit the power to the
machinery in which it is to be employed. It will be found in the
use of this wheel, whether arranged vertically or horizontally, that the
ill be to e considerable extent uniform
SPECIFICATION-in-pursuance-of-the-conditions.of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Louis Dominique Girard-in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
LOUIS DOMINIQUE GIRARD, Civil Engineer, of Paris, in the French
Empire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most -Excellent-Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Louis Dominique Girard,
Her special licence that I, the said Louis Dominique Girard, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such-others as I, the said Louis
Dominique Girard, 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 law-
fully 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 IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC ENGINES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Dominique Girard,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particu-
larly 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.
7
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the. said Louis Dominique Girard, 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 (that is to say):

page_text: This moving part or screw wheel has its axis placed horizontally. and
parallel to the direction of the stream; its movement of rotation is con-
sequently vertical, and perpendicular to the axis of the current from
which the power is obtained. The wheel is composed of two concentric
pieces forming together an open ring, encreasing in size from the up to
the down stream side. The interior ring is connected by arms fo the
nave by which the wheel is fixed on the axis which supports it. In
the annular space formed by the two rings is placed a series of curved
blades suitably formed to agree with widening out of the ring.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIXED UP-STREAM PART B.
It consists of two concentric rings connected together by a cross
piece so as to form a circular canal suitably enlarged towards the
source so as to avoid the contraction of the water in entering. This
canal directs the water directly on to the series of short blades of the
screw wheel. The interior ring is prolonged towards the source, so as
to form a curved screen terminating in a point so as to oppose to
the least possible resistance to the water in the other direction it is
closed by a plate of cast iron carrying at its centre a stuffing box in-
which works the axis of the wheel. These two screens, together with
the interior ring of the annular canal, form a chamber or vacant space
of which the interior can be kept free from water, which will render
the bearing which is there situated accessable. The wooden screen Q,
which retains the water, and causes it to pass through the wheel, rests
at its lower parts on the sereen B.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIXED DOWN-STREAM PART E.
It is of a conical form, and is placed immediately behind the
1 11

page_text: an elliptical form so as to offer the least possible resistance to the water
which comes from the wheel. The object of this part E, is to prevent
any disturbance of the water behind the wheel, and the loss of power
which would arise therefrom. The point of the cone is directed down
stream, and its base is closed by a circular cast iron plate, in which is
a stuffing box through which the axis passes to a bearing interior of
the part E. In this part E, is a man-hole O. By the use of this
wheel great speed is at once obtained from a small fall of water.
This Invention of increasing the area of each of the fluid passages as
it recedes from the point where the fluid enters is also applicable to
Tourbine's other machines where power is obtained by the escape of
fluids from apertures; and the adaptation of it to each particular case
will at once be evident to any person acquainted with hydraulic
machinery.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim
is, the peculiar construction and arrangement of the wheel A, with its
incline passages, and also the peculiar construction of those passages, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Dominique Girard, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
four
5 Witness,
CH. ARMENGAVELL,
Ing" Civil,
Rue Filles du Calvaire, 6,
à Paris.
L. D. GIRARD. (L.S.)