Year: 1889

page_text: 1, WILLLIAM JOHN BASTARD, of 18, Queen's Head Street, Essex Road, Islington,
in the County of London, Engine Turner and Engraver, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to machines for aerial navigation and comprises the
improvements hereinafter described.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure is a side elevation of a machine for aerial navigation, constructed
according to my invention, and
Figure 2 is a central transverse section of the same.
Similar reference letters indicate the same parts in both the figures.
a is the body or envelope of the machine, the said body being of the shape
shewn and serving to contain the gas for rendering the said machine buoyant.
For the purposes of warfare I divide the body a into compartments by partitions,
the said compartments being filled with spherical (or other shaped) envelopes d
filled with gas, as shewn clearly in Figure 2, the said compartments being also filled
with gas.
By this construction if any part of the body a be pierced by bullets or other
projectiles, the loss of gas resulting therefrom will be insufficient to cause the machine
to fall to the ground.
For ordinary purposes I dispense with the partitions c and spherical envelopes d.
The body a is contained in a metallic framing comprising ridge and keel pièces e
and respectively, connected by ribs g.
To prevent the body or envelope a bursting by any expansion of the gas contained
therein, I connect to the compartments b by junctions b'a loose envelope a¹ embraced
by elastic bands a², the said envelope serving to receive the excess of gas caused by
such expansion. Instead of using elastic bands, the envelope can be inade of any
elastic material.
For the purpose of propelling the machine I provide two (or one or more) rotary
propellers on each side of the body a the said propellers being attached to shafts h
mounted in brackets which are attached to some of the ribs g. The shafts '
Dai 71

page_text: carry pulleys which are rotated by driving bands 7 working over guide pulleys
from pulleys on shafts situated beneath the body a, the said shafts being journalled
in bearings and provided with cranks which can be operated by hand from the
car hereinafter described so as to rotate the propellers and drive the machine
along.
By making use of two separate shafts, the propellers on each side of the machine
can be turned in opposite directions so as to aid in steering the said machine.
In addition to operating the propellers by hand, I sometimes make use of the force
of the wind by employing a fan wheel (or more than one) on each side and at the
top of the machine. Each of these fan wheels is attached to a horizontal shaft l'
journaled in bearings in a bracket ³ provided with a fan wheel 1, the said fan
wheels serving to present the faces of the fan wheels to the wind in a similar
manner to ordinary windmills. The fan wheels operate by bevil gearing m the
upper ends of vertical shafts m³ journalled in bearings m² in brackets m" attached to
one of the ribs g. The lower end of each of the vertical shafts m'operates by means
of an inclined shaft m' and universal joints m², a bevil wheel n capable of gearing
with either of two beyil wheels n' on each side of the shafts j¹ so as to drive the
propellers in either direction, the said shafts being slid in their bearings in order to
effect this, and held in either position by pivotted clutch pieces ² engaging with
collars on the shafts j'.
For steering the machine, I provide a rudder o at each end of the same, the near
side of each rudder being connected by a line or rope o' to the off side of the other
rudder as shewn clearly in Figure 1. so that both rudders can be operated at the same
time by moving either of the said lines. The lines o' are guided from one side of the
machine to the other by pulleys 2 pivotted underneath the centre of the machine.
In order to avoid the use of ballast and loss of gas in ascending and descending.
I provide a weight p capable of movement upon a bar p' towards either end of the
machine for the purpose of causing the said machine to assume a slightly angular
position, so that by operating the propellers h in either direction, the machine will
be caused to either ascend or descend.
The bar p' is attached to the keel / by brackets fl and the weight p is operated
by an endless cord or rope p passing round pulleys at each end of the bar pl.
kis the car which is pivotted or hung by straps onto two of the bearings so
that it will always maintain its horizontal position when the machine is inclined as
just described.
To aid in propelling and steering the machine, I provide on each side of the
machine two sails (or other number) attached to two pairs of spars r', each pair
of which is jointed to one of the ribs so that the sails can be caused to lie against
the body of the machine or caused to stand out at right angles to the same as
shown. are ropes' for operating the said sails. Each of the sails is provided with
an opening corresponding with the size of the propellers h so as not to
oppose any resistance to the column of air operated upon by any of the said
propellers.
s is a boat or similar vessel which I provide for exploring rivers or the like or for
use in cases of emergency, that is to say, when by accident or otherwise the
machine is rendered useless when over seas, rivers, or other bodies of water. The
said boat is suspended at each end from the machine by ropes or lines s¹ wound
round a drum in the car so that by rotating the drum the said boat can be
lowered into the water when required.
For the purpose of preventing the machine from drifting when over water and
when requiring to use the boat s, I provide two canvas tanks one at each end of the
machine, which tanks when the machine is lowered towards and moves along above
the water, drag on the surface of the same and fill with water and serve as anchors.
To empty the tanks I provide ropes attached to their bottoms and which when
pulled up turn the tanks upside down.
u, u are two grapnels suspended from the machine by ropes ', u' attached to
and wound round drums in the car k.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
(1.) In machines for aerial navigation, dividing the body or envelope into compart-
ments and filling the same with separate envelopes filled with gas, the said
compartments being also filled with gas,substantially as described and for the purpose
set forth.
(2.) In machines for aerial navigation, providing a loose envelope such as a
surrounded by elastic bands or made of an elastic material, substantially as described
and for the purpose set forth.
(3.) In machines for aerial navigation, the combination with the propeller or
propellers, of mechanism such as that described for operating the said propellers in
either direction.
(4.) In machines for aerial navigation, the use of one or more fan wheels such as
or their equivalents in combination with the propeller or propellers, substantially as
described and for the purpose set forth.
(5.) In machines for aerial navigation, providing rudders acting in combination
substantially as described.
(6.) In machines for aerial navigation, the use of an adjustable weight such as p,
substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.
(7.) In machines for aerial navigation, suspending the car substantially in the
manner and for the purpose set forth.
(8.) In machines for aerial navigation, the use of a sail or sails substantially as
described and for the purpose set forth.
(9.) In machines for aerial navigation, the use of water tanks such as t substantially
as described and for the purpose set forth.
(10.) The combination of parts forming the improved machine for aerial naviga-
tion, substantially as described and represented in the accompanying drawing.
Dated the 6th day of March 1889.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.