CERTAIN IMPROVED MACHINERY APPLICABLE FOR PROPELLING VESSELS
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ERICSSON, of Union Wharf, Albany Street, Regent's Park, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of October, in the fifth year of His reign, did, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Ericsson, His especial licence, that I, the said John Ericsson, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Ericsson, my exors,
adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad. my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVED
MACHINERY APPLICABLE FOR PROPELLING VESSELS;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said John Ericsson, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascer-
tain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the sa
John Ericsson, do hereby declare my said Invention to consist of a stea
cylinder placed longitudinally in the vessel, the piston of which is made to com
municate motion to a fly wheel, and at the same time to communicate a direc
force or impulse to thin metallic plates attached to the end of the piston rod
which latter passes out through either the stern or the bow of the vessel, suc
metallic plates being (by the motion of the said fly wheel) gradually brought b
contrary movements from a horizontal into a vertical position, and then back
again into a horizontal position, whilst the fly wheel makes one half revolution
or whilst the piston completes a single stroke, such metallic plates being als
by the same means kept in a fixed horizontal position during the succeeding
half revolution or single stroke of the piston, whereby a gradually increasing
and diminishing resisting surface will be presented to the water for each
alternate half revolution of the engine, and no flat surface presented during
the following half revolution, and so on in succession, and whereby the vessel
will be propelled. And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said John Ericsson, do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention
is to be performed, by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is
to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of my said improved machinery.
A is the working cylinder; B, the piston; C, the piston rod, and c an extension
of the same connected by the coupling piece D, and passing out through the
stern or through the bow of the vessel, and which rod is made hollow to allow
another rod to work or slide within it. E, E, are sections of two thin metallic
plates, which I call leaves, suspended on pivots e, e, carried by a wrought-iron
frame F, F, attached to the hollow rod c, which frame, together with the plates
or leaves E, E, I call the propeller, and which will be more fully described
hereafter. G, G, are thin broad levers fixed to the plates or leaves E, E, and
moved by the sliding rod E by means of the coupling links I, I, and their
joints i, i, i, i. J is a sliding carriage to which is fixed the coupling piece D, and
also a pin K, which latter is connected by the rod N to the stem of a crank L,
fixed in the rim of the fly wheel M. The sliding rod H is connected with the
pin of the crank L by means of a link O, a bell crank P, P, a rod Q, s
a lever R, and a link S. The combination of these rods, links, and cranks,
which will be more fully explained in Figure 2, is such, that for every half
revolution of the fly wheel, and whilst the piston passes from one end of the

page_text: cylinder to the other, the leaves E, E, will remain in a horizontal position, and
during the succeeding half revolution, whilst the piston returns; they will
gradually pass from a horizontal to a vertical position, and gradually resume
a horizontal position by the termination of the stroke. The fly wheel being
made to move with the sun, the leaves will, from the commencement of the
outstroke of the piston, be gradually brought into a vertical position, thereby
presenting a flat surface to the action of the water, and then will gradually
But whilst the
resume a horizontal position by the termination of the stroke.
piston is returning the leaves will remain in a horizontal position all the time,
whereby no resisting surface will then be presented to the water, consequently
the vessel will be pushed along; but by moving the fly wheel against the sun
the leaves will remain in a horizontal position whilst the piston goes out, and
will make a vertical movement whilst it returns, whereby the vessel will be
pulled along; thus by reversing the motion of the fly wheel the vessel may be
propelled either forwards or backwards. T is a stuffing box to prevent leakage
where the piston rod passes through the vessel, and t another stufling box to
prevent any water entering round the sliding rod H. U is a connecting rod
and V an eccentric fixed on to the boss of the fly wheel, by which the usual
alternate motion is given to the slide valve for producing the reciprocating
motion of the piston. X is one of two guide rods for supporting the propeller,
and fixed to an outrigger or projecting part of the vessel either at the stern or
at the bow. Y is a socket sliding on the rod X, and attached to the propeller
by the joint x.
It will be useful here to state that similar letters of reference will be used
to denote similar parts in all the Figures.
Figure 2 represents a plan or top view of part of my said improved machinery,
and will illustrate the manner in which the leaves of the propeller are alternately
moved and kept in a fixed position by each succeeding half revolution of the
engine. The crank L, (the stem of which forms the crank pin, to which the
connecting rod N is attached,) is fixed to the fly wheel in such a position
that whether at a or b it will, by means of the coupling link S, place the lever
R in the same angular position as marked by the red line d, e, f. (It will
be useful here to remark that the wheel is supposed to be moving with the
sun, and placed in that position which it assumes when the piston has performed
5 somewhat more than three quarters of the outstroke, at which period the leaves
of the propeller will be on their return from the vertical to the horizontal
position, as represented in Figure 1.) By referring to the Drawing it will be
seen that the centres of the joints at the end of the lever R are so placed that

page_text: during the time in which the fly wheel describes the half circle, a, g, b, the
connecting rod Q nearly follows the motion of the rod N, so that a very sligh
motion only will, during that period, be given to the bell crank P, P, and i
will also be seen that this slight motion produces scarcely any sliding motion
at all in the rod H, on account of the relative position of the centres of the
joints of the bell crank with regard to the position of the link O, which
during the same period will deviate but very slightly from the direction
marked by the red line u, l, whilst the bell crank will remain nearly in the
position marked by h, k, l,; accordingly the rod H will, during that period,
remain pulled in to its full extent, whereby the leaves will be kept in a
horizontal position, as will be better seen by reference to Figure 1. With
reference to this motion, it is necessary to observe that whilst the fly wheel
performs the half circle b, m, u, the change of the position of the crank L,
relative to the lever R, and the change of the position of this lever relative
to the connecting rod Q, will give such a motion to the bell crank P, P, as will
cause the sliding rod H to be pushed out to its full extent, and again pulled
in during the outstroke of the piston, whereby the leaves will be made to
present the required surface to the water during the outstroke of the piston..
n is a slide box containing an ordinary slide valve for admitting and letting
off the steam at the termination of each stroke of the piston. O is the steam
passage which connects the slide box with the two ends of the cylinder;
p, an aperture through which the steam is allowed to escape either into a
condensor, or into the atmosphere, as may be desirable; g is the induction pipe
for conveying the steam from the boiler; r, r, are levers connected with the
eccentric rod U for working the slide valve; s, s, are guide pieces on which
the carriage J travels; and f. f. are brackets for supporting the cylinder.
Figure 3 represents a front view of the propeller; the leaves are supposed
to be placed in a horizontal position; the dotted lines represent the leaves in a
vertical position.
Now whereas I do not claim as my Invention the cylinder, piston valve,
stuffing boxes, or other known separate parts of the machine herein-before
described, which are in fact common to steam engines now in use, but I claim
as my Invention the improved machinery herein-before described as applicable
for propelling vessels; and such my Invention being to the best of my know-
ledge and belief entirely new, and never before used within that part of His 3
said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
His Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, or in any of
His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, I do hereby declare this

page_text: to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe that this my
said Specification doth comply in all respects fully, and without reserve or
disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained; wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
bonounto cot m