A PERMANENT AUTOGRAPHIC LOG, SERVING TO MEASURE, AND, IF NEEDED, TO RETRACE GRAPHICALLY, THE SWIFTNESS AND SAILING OF A SHIP, THE RAPIDITY OF STREAMS, AND THE PROPELLING OF RISING AND EBBING TIDES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Gustave Rebour, of No. 15, Passage des Petites
Ecuries, in the City of Paris, in the Empire of France, Advocate, for
the Invention of "A PERMANENT AUTOGRAPHIC LOG, SERVING TO MEASURE,
AND, IF NEEDED, TO RETRACE GRAPHICALLY, THE SWIFTNESS AND SAILING OF A
SHIP, THE RAPIDITY OF STREAMS, AND THE PROPELLING OF RISING AND
EBBING TIDES."
Sealed the 25th September 1862, and dated the 3rd April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Gustave Rebour at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
April 1862.
I, GUSTAVE REBOUR, of No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, in the City.
of Paris, in the Empire of France, Advocate, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "A PERMANENT AUTOGRAPHIC LOG, SERVING TO
MEASURE, AND, IF NEEDED, TO RETRACE GRAPHICALLY, THE SWIFTNESS AND SAILING
OF A SHIP, THE RAPIDITY OF STREAMS, AND THE PROPELLING OF RISING AND EBBING
TIDES," to be as follows:-
My Invention is essentially composed of an archimedian screw placed
outside the hull of a vessel, and sufficiently below the water line to be con-
tinually submerged. The furrow and the size of this screw will be so
calculated that it will make one revolution for every unit of measurement run

page_text: by the vessel. The axle of this screw, which will only turn in one direction
is furnished with toothed gearing at an angle of 45%, which communicates
(within the vessel) the rotatory movement of the screw to a horizontal shaft
which by its other extremity transmits it to a vertical shaft pivoting in socket
At the point where the observation is to be taken is placed (tangentially to the
vertical shaft) the handle of a vertical striking index, balancing easily on its
fulcrum, and running on the ridge of a prismatic circle perpendicular to the
vertical shaft. At some point of its circumference this circle presents a
section cut perpendicularly on one side, and following an inclined plane on
the other. Opposite this section is placed a bell or sounding-plate, on which
the hammer of the index strikes when falling into the solution of continuity
of the circle. With this instrument the officer of the watch has simply to
listen for a minute how many times the bell has sounded to know that the
ship has run a certain distance, and that without possibility of error. To
render this permanent log autographic or self-registering, 1 cause to circulate
under the strokes of the hammer a strip of paper (divided into inches and
other parts of measurement throughout its length), unwinding and winding on
two pairs of discs, one of which, the enrolling disc, is furnished with a spring
and-clock work to facilitate the enrolling movement, and the other, the .unrolling
disc, is fitted with a check, which regulates the unwinding, which is caused by
an arrangement of sector cylinders placed between the two discs, and drawing
the band of paper from one to the other by, the, strength of a watch spring
placed at the other extremity of the axle of one of them, the which extremity
is provided with a six-toothed wheel communicating by a slight detent or
catch with the minute wheel of a chronometer or ordinary clock with escape-
ment; it is this chronometer commanding the movement of the sector
cylinders, and the diameter of these latter,, which regulates the quantity of
paper passing in a given time beneath the stroke of the hammer.. If, for
example, one inch of the paper passes in a minute, the comparaison of the
number of inches wound with the number of strokes which the marker has
struck the band or ribband will give the speed, which consists of the space run
in a given time. The instrument above provisionally described will also serve-
to calculate the strength of currents by luffing or anchoring the vessel, and of
under currents by lowering the apparatus to a fixed depth in a diving bell or
other similar apparatus; also the flux and reflux of tidės.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Gustave Rebour in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GUSTAVE
REBOUR, of No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, in the City of Paris, in the
Empire of France, Advocate, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord:
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the.
said Gustave Rebour, Her special licence that I, the said Gustave Rebour,,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Gustave
Rebour, 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 "A PERMANENT AUTOGRAPHIC LOG,
SERVING TO MEASURE, AND, IF NEEDED, TO RETRACE GRAPHICALLY THE SWIFTNESS
AND SAILING OF A SHIP, THE RAPIDITY OF STREAMS, AND THE PROPELLING OF
RISING AND EBBING TIDES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Gustave Rebour, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should 'par-
ticularly 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 Gustave Rebour, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 Sheet of Drawings bereunto annexed, and forming.
part of this my Specification, and to the figures and letters of reference placed
thereon:
The object of my Invention is to measure, and, if desired, register, the
speed of a ship, the rapidity of the currents near the surface of the sea or of
a lake, the rapidity of the under currents, and the rapidity of propulsion
of rise and fall of tides.
My Invention is essentially composed of an archimedian screw fixed on the
quarter near the stern of the ship, and sufficiently below the water line to

page_text: secure constant immersion. The furrow or thread and the size of this screw
are so calculated that it may make one complete revolution for each unit of
measurement run by the vessel. The axle of this screw, which is only
to turn in one direction, is furnished with toothed gearing at an angle of
45 degrees, which communicates the rotary motion of the screw to a horizontal
shaft (passing within the ship), the other end of which transmits it to a
vertical shaft pivoting in sockets. At the point where the observation is to
be taken is placed tangentially to the vertical shaft the handle of a striking
index, balancing easily on its fulcrum, and running on the ridge of a prismatic
circle perpendicular to the vertical shaft. At some point of its circumference
this circle presents a section cut perpendicularly on one side, and following
an inclined plane on the other. Opposite this section is placed a gong or
sounding plate, on which the hammer or index strikes when falling into the
solution of continuity of the circle. With this instrument the officer of the
watch has but to listen for a minute how many times the gong has been
struck to know that the ship has run a certain distance, and that without
possibility of error. To render this permanent log autographic or self-
registering I cause to circulate beneath the strokes of the hammer a band of
paper divided into yards and inches (or otherwise) in its entire length, and
rolling and unrolling around two pair of discs, one of which, namely, the
enrolling disc, is provided with a spring and clockwork to facilitate the
enrolling movement, and the other (the unrolling disc) is armed with a check
which regulates the unrolling. The unrolling is promoted by an arrangement
of vector or drawing cylinders (erroneously put sector in the Provisional Spe-
cification) placed between the two discs, and drawing the band of paper from
the one to the other by the force of a clock spring placed at the other
extremity of the axle of one of them, which extremity is furnished with a
six-toothed wheel communicating by a small catch with the minute wheel
of an ordinary chronometer or clock with escapement; it is this chronometer
commanding the motion of the drawing cylinders, and the diameter of these
latter, which regulates the quantity or length of band passing beneath the
stroke of the hammer in a given time. For example, if an inch of paper pass
in a minute, the comparaison of the number of inches enrolled with the number
of strokes which the hammer bas given to the band, will give the speed which
is composed of the space run in a given time. This instrument will serve to
calculate the rapidity of currents by bringing the ship to or anchoring, and
of the under currents by lowering it in their line of action (previously ascer-
tained by the apparatus herein-after described and shewn, Figure 3 of the
Drawing) in a diving-bell or other apparatus with compressed air. It has the

page_text: advantage in hydrographic work of giving with the greatest precision the
stenography of the currents and under currents, and that with the greatest
economy, inasmuch as it dispenses with manual labor, always expensive,
dangerous, and uncertain in delicate experiments. Independently of the new
combinations of known means which have realized the idea, the theory upon
which this instrument is based is this:-The old floating log attached to a cord
divided by knots and unrolling by the movement of the ship from the spot
where it has been immersed, rests upon the hypothesis of its geographical
immobility on the sea; but this hypothesis is false in fact, for if a ship run-
ning, for example, at the rate of four miles an hour, is sailing in a current
coming from astern with a speed of one mile, it is evident that the space
covered by the ship will be five miles, nevertheless, the log will indicate but
four, because the float has been nearing the ship at the rate of a mile an hour.
If, on the contrary, the ship is navigating against the same current, the space
covered will be but three miles, and yet the log will indicate four, because. it
will have been drawn one mile by the current. If the current is cut obliquely
in one direction or the other, the same effect must be fatally reproduced with
variations in the results. Now, as all the apparatus hitherto used, whether
floating, moored to the ship, or fixed to its hull, act as if the sea was really
immoveable, as if each one of its molecules always maintained the same
geographical position, they cannot of themselves give the true distance run.
This knowledge is nevertheless essential to navigation, and to obtain it I have
surrounded my motor with a species of armour, which protects it on all sides
excepting in the rear, from the direct shock of the currents and the wave, and
in one word, it turns (like a turbine at the bottom of its well) in a small ocean of
its own fed by the great one, but abstracted from its influences; it is therefore
never submitted but to the effort of a column of water, the resistance of which
is constant and arithmetically proportionate to the speed with which it flows
into the armour or guard. The cone in front and lateral casing protect the.
screw against direct or oblique currents, and it will be set in motion only
by the replacing or renewing water, of which the force is calculable and con-
stant. For the better comprehension of my system, I will compare it to a
bydraulic wheel turning by the impulsion of a regulated supply of water from
a mill dam on a stream subject to rapid rise and fall.
In the accompanying Drawings Figures I and 2 represent a sketch of two
motors; of different form but of identical principle; one only is drawn to a
geometrical scale, the proportions being necessarily variable with those of the
ship. And I would here observe, that I can easily replace the transmission
from the motor to the meter or indicator by dynamic electricity; but my

page_text: method does not need description here, as it differs but little from those already
known.
A, archimedean screw; B, conical buckler protecting the screw; C,.stuffing
box; D, D', pullies communicating motion; E, multiplicating gearing; F,
registering meter.
I have previously stated that my permanent autographic log, lowered in an
apparatus filled with compressed air, will register the rapidity of under currents,
the existence of such currents being first ascertained, by using the apparatus
shewn in the Drawing at Figure 3, which forms an adjunct to my log, and in
one sounding operation will indicate the existence of an under current, the
depth at which it runs, the direction of its course, and its geographical position.
It is constructed as follows:-Perpendicularly to the base of a matrass (or
glass tube closed at one end) furnished with a valve, opening inwards, is
fixed a screw, in shape like a small ventilating fan, turning in a bronze or
copper trough, which protects its lower diameter. On the axle of this screw
is rolled a cord of twisted horsehair, which passes into a pulley placed above
it, at about two-thirds the height of the matrass, and supports a weight which
rises within a tube (provided with windows); when the screw turns, this
hair rope passes through the axle of the screw, to which it is fixed by a knot
on each side, and hooks by a loop on to a tooth fixed on a small grooved half
dise forming the extremity of a horizontal shaft, communicating by a stuffing
box with the interior of a compass constructed so as to be water-tight, and
having its centre in a line with the axis of the matrass. Previous to entering
the stuffing box the horizontal shaft commands, by a toothed gearing, another
perpendicular to it, which passing into the metal fitting of the matrass and
terminating in a slide bolt, closes the valve at a given moment. Inside the
compass the extremity of the shaft is also provided with a half disc, the effect
of which is to fix the needle by pressing upon it when its convexity is turned
against it. The compass is mounted on the end of a bronze screw, which, by
arched arms, unites the matrass to a sounding lead, on the upper part of which
is fixed a metal circle with projecting edge, traversed by an indicator com-
posed of a collar, with two opposite coupling boxes turning around the screw,
and two branches, each provided with a hook which holds them against the
projecting edge; one of them extends in the shape of an oar beyond the dia-
meter of the lead, the other only reaches its circumference. The metal circle
is bollowed in the interior into a gorge, in which is seated a strong hooked
spring, by the side of which is a stop pin placed perpendicularly to the plane
of the circle.
M, glass tube or matrass; P, pulley directing the hair cord; K, hair cord

page_text: passing through the axle of the screw and supporting the weight P¹; D, D¹,
square suspension rods uniting the upper and lower bases of the case or framing
of the matrass; they are three in number, and one of them D'is engraved
with a double scale, divided into inches and parts, and corresponding atmo-
spheres. S, convex valve opening inwards; T, slide bolt; H; screw turning
in a metal trough, which protects its lower diameter; A, axle of the screw;
b, loop of the cord K. and tooth on which it catches; d, half disc with groove;
d', half disc corresponding with the first; q, q', toothed quadrants, which serve
to move the slide bolt; B, compass; y, arched arms uniting the matrass to
the lead by the stem V; U, nut fixing the arched arms; V, uniting rod or
stem screwed at each extremity; C, collar with two opposite coupling boxes;
R, oar blade; R', small branch; r, r₁, stop hooks; F, metal circle with pro-
jecting edge for the march of the blade; X, spring hook seated on the inner
gorge of the circle F; X', stop bolt or pin placed perpendicularly on the plane
of the circle; P, lead for sounding.
The working of the apparatus is as follows:-Having brought the blade of
the indicator against the vertical bolt, the tooth of the half disc is hooked in
the hair loop, and the instrument is gently lowered into the sea like any other
sounding lead; the tension of the line shews when it has reached the bottom,
and it is then raised by a regular traction. If there is no current nothing will be
indicated by the matrass but the depth to which it has descended; but if a cur-
rent exists, the following effect will have been produced:-The instant the force
of the current is felt by the screw (which its vertical descent has left unmoved
by reason of the trough enveloping its lower diameter) it will turn, raising the
weight along the matrass, causing the half disc to make half a turn, and by its
correspondent fix the magnetic needle, and a quarter of a turn to be made by
the slide bolt of the valve, which will remain closed, and cannot again open
under the pressure; at the same time the loop of the hair cord will escape
from the tooth of the half disc, which has arrived on the plan of its extension,
the oar blade will be brought back by the current in turning half round its
axle, its second branch passes, pressing down the spring fixed on the gorge,
but arrived at the end of its course it will be held firmly against the projecting
edge of the sounding lead by the spring hook acting vertically on that with
which this branch is itself provided. Thus, in one operation we ascertain,-
Firstly, the existence of an under current by the rising of the weight
suspended to the hair. rope.
Secondly, the exact depth at which it lies, by the pressure of the air in the
matrass suddenly arrested by the slide bolt directly it is reached.

page_text: Thirdly, its direction. by the oar blade, which is always turned down the
current..
Fourthly, its geographical position by the needle of the compass set in the
current itself, and consequently giving the angle formed by the magnetic
.meridian and the indicator, and there remains but to lower the permanent
autographic log to ascertain its rapidity.
In witness whereof, I, the said Gustave Rebour, 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-two.
REBOUR. (LS.)