Improvements in Apparatus for Propelling and Steering Boats.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Mar., 1896-Accepted, 13th June. 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Propelling and Steering Boats.
I JOSHUA ENTWISLE, Manager, with the Firm of E. K. Dutton & Co.,
Chartered Patent Agents, of 5 John Dalton Street, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (communicated to
me from abroad by Samuel Newton Smith, Manufacturer, of 615 Temple Court,
and Edward Sabine Baring-Gould, Real Estate Broker, of 330 Temple Court,
both of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America), and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying drawings :-
This invention relates to means for propelling boats, and the object of the
invention is to provide a propelling attachment for row boats, small sail boats,
yacht tenders, etc., which attachment will be adjustable to boats of various sizes
and by means of which the boat may be propelled by a small power, and not only
propelled but steered with ease and convenience.
To this end the invention consists in the combination with the propeller to
revolve in a vertical plane, of a vertical shaft whereby the same is driven,
suitable means for supporting said shaft upon the side or end of a boat, and a
motor also carried by the supporting means and movable therewith; and further
in pivotal means for supporting the said parts, whereby the propeller may be
moved to steer the boat; further to a particular motor arrangement and connection,
and in details of construction and combinations of parts all as hereinafter described
and particularly pointed out in the claims.
The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings, forming part of this Specification, and in which;
Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a device embodying my invention attached to the
stern of the boat.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof showing the construction of the device and
the manner of securing the same to the boat.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line - of Fig. 2, showing the arrangement
and position of the brushes.
Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line y-y of Fig. 2 showing the construction of
the motor.
Fig. is a modification of the means for attaching the device to the stern of a
boat.
Fig. 6 is a detail of the clamps whereby the vertical position of the device may
be changed at will.
As indicated in the drawings, the device is readily attachable to either the stern
or the side of the boat, and as no part of the mechanism pierces the boat the same
need be in no way altered or rebuilt to receive this device. A block 2 secured upon
the stern or side of the boat has a pin hole through which extends the pin 3, by
which a swinging arm or block 4 is pivoted to the boat. The outer end of this
block or arm 4 is in the form of a split sleeve 5 adapted to be tightened by
screws 6, and when so tightened to securely grip the vertical tube 7 as shown
in Fig. 6. The tube supports the remaining parts of the mechanism and is
adjustable at any desired height in the swinging arm. Within this tube are
suitable bearings for the shaft 8, at the lower end of which is a bevel gear 9,
meshing with a similar gear 10 upon the short propeller shaft 11. This propeller
shaft-has-bearings-in-a-box-12 secured upon the lower end of the tube 7 and
enclosing the said gears. A propeller wheel 13 is secured upon the rear end of the
baft 11.
On the upper end of the fixed tube 7 is a casing 14 which serves as a

page_text: housing for the large gear wheel 15 and more particularly as a bracket whereon
the driving motor 16 and the handle or tillers 17 are secured and supported. The
rear part of the casing 14 is preferably movable. Upon the bracket thus formed
is an annular seat 18 for the "field "portion of the electric motor. The upper
bearing 19 of the armature shaft 20 is carried upon the field portion, while the
lower end of the shaft is provided with a convenient bearing in the part 14. On
the lower end of the armature shaft is a pinion 21 meshing with the large gear
wheel 15 by which the necessary reduction in speed is obtained.
The motor is completely housed in a brass or other non-magnetic covering 22, and
the upper part 19 containing the bearing 19' is also of non-magnetic material. In
this part are insulated holders for the commutator brushes 23, which are preferably
simple carbon sticks pressed upon the commutator 24 by springs 25. To these
brushes the battery wires 27 are connected through the medium of a three pole
switch 28 arranged upon the covering 22 and having poles representing ahead, stop
and reverse movements of the motor. As the vertical shaft is set at a considerable
distance from the stern or side of the boat the same has a considerable latitude of
movement, and thus it may be swung from side to side to change the angle of
propulsion as required in steering the boat, a rudder being thus dispensed with.
The tillers 17 in shape and appearauce resemble the handle bar of a bicycle
and are mounted in a long bearing in the under side of the bracket or housing 14
as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Cords 17' are connected to the ends of the tillers 17
by means of which they may be operated from any part of the boat.
The axis of the motor is supported upon the bracket and the upper end of the
shaft is substantially coincident with the axis of the pin whereon the arm or
pivotal bracket 4 is adapted to swing, therefore in throwing the tillers from side
to side the propeller will be shifted while the motor will not leave its original
position.
Any desired form of motor may be employed in connection with the other parts
of my device, but I prefer to use a motor of the construction shown in the
drawings, particularly in Figs. 2 and 4, inasmuch as a motor of this construction is
considerably lighter than others in proportion to the power derived therefrom.
This motor comprises an annular field portion of iron preferably divided into
four pole portions and provided with suitable field windings. The armature is
provided with a different number of pole pieces two sets of three each being
preferably employed, as shown, and the two sets being placed differentially upon
the armature shaft, whereby there are always four poles in positive action. In
use a battery of either primary or secondary type is placed in the boat and the
flexible connections 27 lead therefrom to the motor switch.
In Fig. 5 is shown a modification of the means for securing the block 2 to the
stern or side of the boat which consists in providing an arın 30 adapted to fit over
the upper edge of the stern or side of the boat and provided with a clamping
screw 31 arranged to bear upon the inside surface of the stern or side whereby the
device may be quickly and securely fastened to the boat in any desired position
and as readily removed.
As shown in Fig. 2 the tillers 17 are adjustably secured in their fastening on the
under side of the casing or bracket 14 by means of a clamping device 17' which
permits the tillers to be adjusted at various angles. If desired the clamp may be
loosened and the tillers turned over to permit them to extend up beside of or above
the motor so that regardless of the position of the mechanism on the side or stern
of the boat the steering of the same will be in no wise impeded.
Having now particularly described the nature of my invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is.
1. The general arrangement, construction and combination of parts comprising
my improved boat propelling mechanism, substantially as described,-and-as-
illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawing.
2. A boat propelling attachment, comprising a propeller, and a motor arranged

page_text: above the same, a substantially vertical driving shaft connecting said parts, and
pivotal means for supporting the same upon a boat, whereby the propeller may be
swung from side to side to steer a boat as well as propel the same, substantially as
described.
3. The combination, with a propeller upon a longitudinal shaft, of a vertical
support and a vertical shaft wherefrom the propeller shaft is driven means for
securing said support upon a boat, a bracket provided upon said vertical support,
and a motor arranged upon said bracket and from which said vertical shaft is
driven, substantially as described.
4. The combination, with a propeller upon a longitudinal shaft, of a vertical
support and vertical shaft wherefrom the propeller shaft is driven, a pivotal arm
wherein said shaft is vertically adjustable, steering means arranged thereon, mein
for securing said support upon a boat, a bracket provided upon said vertical
support, and a motor arranged upon said bracket and from which said vertical
shaft is driven, substantially as described.
5. The combination, with the pivotal arm or bracket to be secured to the boat,
of a vertically arranged tube or shaft adjustable therein, a vertical shaft provided
within said tube, a box provided upon the lower end thereof, the propeller shaft
having bearings therein, gears upon said vertical shaft and the propeller shaft, the
same meshing with one another, a propeller a bracket provided upon the upper end
of said tube, the motor supported upon said bracket, gears connecting the shaft
thereof and said vertical shaft, and steering means also provided upon said bracket,
substantially as described.
6. The combination, with the pivotal arm or bracket to be secured upon the
boat, of a vertical supporting shaft or tube, a propeller having a longitudinal
shaft, a vertical driving shaft, a motor geared thereto above said arm or bracket,
and the axis of said motor and said pivotal arm or bracket being substantially
coincident, as and for the purpose specified.
7. The combination, with the pivotal arm or bracket to be secured upon the
boat, of a vertical supporting shaft or tube, means for adjustably locking said tube
upon said arm or bracket, wherein the same is vertically adjustable, a propeller
having a longitudinal shaft, a vertical driving shaft, a motor geared thereto above
said arm or bracket, and the axis of said motor and said pivotal arm or bracket
being substantially coincident, as and for the purpose specified.
8. The modified construction described with reference to Figure 5 of the
drawing.
9. A boat propelling attachment, comprising a propeller, and a motor arranged
bove the same, the shaft connecting said parts, pivoted means for supporting the
ame upon a boat and wherein said shaft is vertically adjustable, and the tillers
ecured in a suitable fastening at or near the upper end of said shaft and adjustable
t various angles in said fastening, for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 30th day of March 1900
For the Applicant,
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5 John Dalton Street, Manchester, Chartered Patent Agents.