TM- PROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR THE PROPULSION OF STEAMBOATS, AND FOR SUP- PORTING AND PREVENTING THE Rolling of THE SAME, AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Cesar Frederick Franklin, of Brighton, in the
County of Sussex, Civil and Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "TM-
PROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR THE PROPULSION OF STEAMBOATS, AND FOR SUP-
PORTING AND PREVENTING THE Rolling of THE SAME, AND OTHER VESSELS,”
Sealed the 11th July 1876, and dated 14th January 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Cæsar Frederick
Franklin at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, on the 14th January
1876.
ALEXANDER CÆSAR FREDERICK FRANKLIN, of Brighton, in the County of Sussex,
Civil and Mechanical Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR THE PROPULSION
OF STEAMBOATS, AND FOR SUPPORTING AND PREVENTING THE ROLLING OF THE SAME,
AND OTHER VESSELS."
My said Invention relates chiefly to improved paddle wheels for steamboats.
The said Invention is designed by the peculiar construction of the said paddle
wheels to increase the stability or steadiness of the boat or vessel, and thereby
diminish its rolling and to increase its floating power or buoyancy; also to diminish
the friction of the water at the sides of the vessel whereby its onward motion is
retarded.
The said Invention consists, first, in constructing the body of the paddle wheel
in the form of a hollow water-tight drum or cylinder in the place of the ordinary
skeleton frame of a paddle wheel, and in attaching the floats or paddle boards to
the outer periphery of the said hollow drum. The said floats may be either fixed
or feathering; if the latter any of the ordinary forms of feathering mechanisin may
be employed.
Instead of using a cylindrical drum provided with floats I in some instances make
the said hollow drum of a polygonal form, its sides then acting as floats; or I may
use floats, either fixed or feathering, in combination with the said polygonal hollow
drum.
The said hollow drums may be constructed of metal plates or of wood, or partly
of wood and metal, but great care must be taken to have them perfectly tight, so
that their buoyancy will not be impaired by the entrance of water.
It will be obvious that a boat or vessel provided with these hollow drum wheels

page_text: at the sides will have her stability and buoyancy greatly increased, as the said
wheels will offer very great resistance to submersion, thereby not only checking the
tendency of the vessel to roll, but also causing her to ride very lightly and easily
over the waves, and will tend at all times to increase her speed. This improved
paddle wheel will be less liable to fouling from wreckage or floating substances, and
to other injuries than ordinary paddle wheels. Moreover, the said drums may be
so placed on their shafts as to be capable of ready disconnection therefrom to serve
as life rafts in case of shipwreck or other emergencies.
Another part of my said Invention consists in the peculiar arrangement of the
floats of paddle wheels to prevent the retarding action of the water as it leaves the
paddle wheels on the sides of the boat or vessel.
It is well known that the friction of water upon a body moving through it very
materially diminishes the speed of the same, as the friction causes a large body of
water to travel with the vessel, and much power is thereby absorbed, and in the
case of a paddle wheel steamboat the retarding action is greatly augmented by the
backward motion imparted to the water leaving the paddle wheels, whose effect is
that of a tide in the direction opposite to that in which the vessel is moving. This
back flow or current meeting the current of water travelling with the vessel causes
a powerful eddy, which is rendered apparent by the depression of water under the
vessel's counter, causing her to "draw down by the stern," and occasioning great
waste of power in driving the vessel. I obviate this difficulty by placing the floats
or paddle boards obliquely across the wheel at such an angle that as they pass
through the water the latter will be forced outward or away from the vessel's sides,
thereby preventing to a great extent, if not entirely, the friction or retarding action
of the water on the same. These inclined or diagonal floats may be applied to my
improved paddle wheels with hollow drums as above described, or to ordinary
skeleton frame paddle wheels, and the said oblique or inclined floats may be either
fixed or feathering, as required.
The said hollow drums may also with advantage be employed for the purpose of
supporting and steadying screw and padille steamers and other vessels. For this
purpose they are arranged to rotate upon shafts or axles on the sides of the vessel,
and may be used as auxiliary steadying means in paddle wheel vessels, either before
or aft, or both fore and aft, of the paddle wheels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Cæsar Frederick Franklin in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th July 1876.
ALEXANDER CÆSAR FREDERICK FRANKLIN, of Brighton, in the County of
Sussex, Civil and Mechanical Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR THE
PROPULSION OF STEAMBOATS, AND FOR SUPPORTING AND PREVENTING THE ROLLING
OF THE SAME, AND OTHER VESSELS."
My said Invention relates chiefly to improved paddle wheels for steamboats or
vessels. The said Invention is designed by the peculiar construction of the said
paddle wheels to increase the stability or steadiness of the boat or vessel, and
thereby diminish its rolling and to increase its floating power or buoyancy; also to
diminish the friction of the water at the sides of the vessel, by which friction the
onward motion of vessels is greatly retarded.
The said Invention consists, first, in constructing the body of the paddle wheel
in the form of a hollow water-tight or buoyant drum or cylinder in the place of the
ordinary skeleton frame of a paddle wheel, the floats or paddle boards being
attached to the outer periphery of the said hollow drum. The said floats may be
either fixed or feathering; if the latter any of the ordinary forms of feathering
mechanism may be employed.

page_text: Instead of using a cylindrical drum provided with floats I in some instances
make the said hollow druin of a polygonal form, its sides then acting as floats; or I
may use ordinary floats, either fixed or feathering, in combination with the said
polygonal hollow drum.
The said hollow drums may be constructed of metal plates or of wood, or partly
of wood and partly of metal, but great care must be taken to have them perfectly
water-tight, so that their buoyancy will not be impaired by the entrance of water.
It will be obvious that a boat or vessel provided with these hollow drums or
wheels at the sides will have her stability and buoyancy greatly increased, as the
said wheels will offer very great resistance to submersion, thereby not only checking
the tendency of the vessel to roll, but also causing her to ride very lightly and easily.
over the waves, and they will tend at all times to increase her speed. This
improved paddle wheel will be less liable to injury from fouling by wreckage or
floating substances or otherwise than ordinary paddle wheels. Morcover, the said
drums may be so placed on their shafts as to be capable of ready disconnection
therefrom to serve as life rafts in case of shipwreck or other emergencies.
It is well known that the friction of water upon a vessel moving through it very
materially diminishes the speed of the same, as the friction causes a large body of
water to travel with the vessel, and the propelling force or power of the same is to
a great extent absorbed in moving this body of water, and in the case of a paddle
wheel steamboat the retarding action is greatly augmented by the backward motion
imparted to the water leaving the paddle wheels, the effect of which backward flow
is that of a tide in the direction opposite to that in which the vessel is moving.
This backwardly flowing current of water meeting the water travelling with the
vessel creates a powerful eddy, which is rendered apparent by the depression of
water under the vessel's counter, causing her to "draw down by the steru," and
insuring a great waste of her propelling or driving force. To obviate all difficulty
arising from this cause I place the floats or paddle boards of my improved wheels
obliquely across the wheels at such an angle that as they pass through the water it
will be forced outward or away from the vessel's sides, thereby preventing to a great
extent, if not entirely, the friction or retarding action of the water on the vessel.
These inclined or diagonal floats applied to my improved paddle wheels with hollow
drums, as above described, may be either fixed or feathering.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a feathering paddle wheel with a hollow air and
water-tight drum according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a front elevation partly
in vertical section of the same.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of a paddle wheel with fixed floats constructed
according to my said Invention.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
a is the aforesaid hollow water-tight drum, which may be constructed in any
suitable manner; b is the paddle shaft, on which the said drums are secured by
means of the cast-iron bosses c, or by other suitable means; d, d, are the floats,
which are constructed of wood or metal, or in any suitable manner.
The feathering mechanism e, f, g, shewn in Figures 1 and 2, is the same as that
commonly used for feathering paddle wheels, and need not be hercin particularly
described.
The said hollow water-tight or buoyant drums, either cylindrical or polygonal,
may be advantageously employed as means for supporting, steadying, and increasing
the buoyancy of either screw or paddle wheel steamers or other vessels. without
acting as propelling wheels. For this purpose the said drums are fitted to rotate
upon suitable shafts; axles, or journals at the sides of the vessel, so that they may
turn freely on or with the saine as the vessel moves, and therefore offer no
obstruction to the vessel's progress. These rotating buoyant drums may be used in
combination with my improved paddle wheels, and either fore or aft, or both fore

page_text: and aft, the same as auxiliary means for steadying and giving buoyancy to paddle
wheel steamers.
Having thus fully described my said Invention and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The construction of a paddle wheel with a hollow water-tight or buoyant
cylinder or drum provided with either fixed or feathering floats, as above described.
Second. The construction of a paddle wheel in the form of a polygon or
polygonal drum, which is made water-tight or otherwise buoyant, and either with
or without floats, as above set forth.
Third. The employment of buoyant cylinders, drums, or polygons arranged to
rotate on shafts or journals at the side of a boat or vessel for increasing the
buoyancy and stability of the same, as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Cæsar Frederick Franklin, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.