IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROPULSION OF SHIPS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Saint John Vincent Day, Civil Engineer and Patent
Agent, of the Firm of J. H. Johnson & Day, No. 166, Buchanan Street,
Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROPULSION OF SHIPS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."-A communication from abroad by
Thomas Craig, of Maori Point, Otago, New Zealand.
Sealed the 16th January 1866, and dated the 21st July 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Saint John Vincent Day
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st July 1865.
I, SAINT JOHN VINCENT DAY, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, of the
Firm of J. H. Johnson & Day, No. 166, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, in
the County of Lanark, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROPULSION OF SHIPS, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows, that is
to say:
This Invention, which has for its object the propulsion of ships through the
water with a less waste of power than results from the ordinary mode of propul-
sion either by paddles or a screw, consists mainly of two wheels or drums, which
are set parallel to each other, and are caused to revolve in the same direction

page_text: by the same or separate pairs or sets of engines. Passing over the drums
is an endless chain or chains or a belt, which may be made of metal or other
suitable material, on the outer surface of which a series of propelling or
"float boards" are fixed; as the engines revolve the drums the belt is caused
to travel, and its lower sides with the propelling boards being immersed in the
water the vessel is by their motion sent on in its course. This apparatus may
be applied on both sides of the ship proper, or it may be placed in the stern.
The advantages resulting from this Invention are that the surface of the
propelling or float board is maintained perpendicular to the direction of the
water for nearly the whole period of its immersion, and there is little or no loss
from back water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Saint John Vincent Day in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th January 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAINT
JOHN VINCENT DAY, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, of the Firm of
J. H. Johnson and Day, No. 166, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the Twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Saint John Vincent Day, Her special license that I, the said
Saint John Vincent Day, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Saint John Vincent Day, my executors, adminis-
trators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROPULSION OF SHIPS, AND IN
THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," a communication to me
from abroad by Thomas Craig, of Maori Point, Otago, New Zealand, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Saint John Vincent Day,
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

page_text: 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 St. John Vincent Day, 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 accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention, which has for its object the propulsion of ships through
the water with a less waste of power than results from the ordinary mode of
propulsion either by paddles or a screw, consists mainly of two wheels or
drums, which are set parallel to each other, and are caused to revolve in the
same direction by the same or separate pairs or sets of engines. Passing over
the drums is an endless chain or chains or a belt, which may be made of
metal or other suitable material, on the outer surface of which a series of
propelling or float boards are fixed; as the engines revolve the drum, the
belt is caused to travel, and its lower side with the propelling boards being
immersed in the water the vessel is by their motion sent on its course. This
apparatus may be applied on both sides of the ship proper, or it may be placed
in the stern.
The advantages resulting from this Invention are, that the surface of the
propelling or float boards is maintained perpendicular to the direction of the
water for nearly the whole period of its immersion, aud there is little or no loss
from back water.
And in order that the said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings,
which I have hereunto appended for the purpose of showing more clearly the
manner in which the Invention may be practically carried into effect, that is
to say:-
Figure 1 is plan of the hull of a ship, showing the propelling mechanism
on both sides, that on the upper side being in section, whilst that on the lower
is in plan; Figure 2 is a side or longitudinal elevation of the hull corre
sponding to Figure 1, also having the propelling apparatus, shown one-half in
section and the other half in elevation.
In both Figures the shafts A are those which carry the large driving drums
or pulleys B and C, either of the shafts A may be the engine crank shaft, and
both of these are fitted into suitable bearings fixed into the hull, as in an
ordinary paddle shaft. Over the drum pulleys B and C there is stretched the
endless chain or chains D and E, and from suitable places in their links pro-
jecting perpendicularly from their longitudinal direction are the several

page_text: supports to which the float boards a, a, are fixed by bolts, rivets, or otherwise.
It is obvous that in place of using chains or belts, other equivalent means for
securely holding the floats may be adopted.
The chief advantage to be gained by the adoption of this Invention is that
the floats are maintained perpendicular to the water throughout a greater
portion of their traverse than under existing arrangements, by which arrange-
ment the propulsive effect is increased.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is or may be used or carried into practical effect, I would
observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original, and there-
fore claim as the Invention secured by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the general arrangement of apparatus for propulsion, and the appli-
cation of endless chains or belts, or other equivalent means to which the float
boards are attached, as herein-before described, or any mere modification
thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Saint John Vincent Day, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six.
ST. JOHN VINCENT DAY. (L.B.)