IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTON OF SHIPS AND IN THEIR MODE OF PROPULSION FOR FACILITATING NAVIGATION AND AUGMENTING SPEED
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernest Bazin, Civil Engineer and Chevalier of
the National Order of the Legion of Honour, of No. 16, Place
Vendome, Paris, France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTON OF SHIPS AND IN THEIR MODE OF PROPULSION FOR FACILITATING
NAVIGATION AND AUGMENTING SPEED."
Sealed the 17th October 1873, and dated the 26th July 1873.

page_text: Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Decla-
ration that I am the true and first Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ernest Bazin, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed in and by the following statement
and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in substituting a rolling system by aid of
cylinders for the ordinary modes of propulsion.
'I
The features of novelty in this Invention being, first, the special form
given to the cylinders or rolling floats or rollers, which is that of a
midship frame, with this distinction, that it is circular and animated
with a movement of rotation. The combination with this form of
cylinder with the aid of a circular keel divides and as it were disaggre- 1
gates the opposing water, crushes it, and gives passage to itself, thus
attenuating the direct and forcible resistance which both wind and water
offer to vessels of the ordinary type by the pure and simple displacement
thereof. Secondly, the combination with the above floating cylinders
or rotating rollers of a movement of propulsion by aid of screw pro- 2
pellers, this combination producing the practical rolling on the water,
and so attaining the requisite qualities for navigating the high seas.
The two essential principles forming the subject of the Invention
being that of the form of a circular midship frame, and the combination
of the rotary motion with the simultaneous action of the propellers.
The disposition and special formation of the rolling floats or propelling
cylinders give them great stability and solidity, the characteristic feature
of which being that of a section of a vessel at midships, for offering the
least possible resistance to the wind, and most important disaggregating
the water and neutralizing the stern by a circular keel; this latter in
separating the water attenuates the sliding friction that the rollers
would forcibly meet with on the inclined plane determined by them in
their natural displacement. These rollers or cylindrical floats, whose
surfaces are polished and of large dimensions, are arranged in line,
their, number varying in proportion to the dimensions and capacity of 3
the vessel.

page_text: The shape of the centre one R is less fine than the front and rear
ones but all alike are remarkable for the circular keel attached to each.
From the great size of the floats it is necessary to support the ends of
the axes, with this view the rollers are cut in the centre to admit of the
application of a centre support, which is borne by the keel of the vessel
and the plates surrounding the rollers above, by this means the axes
are maintained in the best conditions of stability. Each roller or cylinder
is driven by a steam engine fed by boilers.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a general view of a high
speed vessel for use on the high seas; Figure 2 represents in rear of the
axes A, B, a plan view of the bridge; in front of this axis the keel is
shown; Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line 1, 2, showing the
boilers; Figure 4 is a transverse section on the line 3, 4, passing by the
axis of the screw propellers; Figure 5 is a section on the front line 5, 6;
Figure 6 is a section passing by the axis of the great or centre roller.
Figures 1, 2, and 6 show the form of the rollers R, R', R", and is that
produced by bent surfaces, and as already stated is similar to the outline
of a section of a ship. The shape of the centre roller R from its position
is less fine than the front and rear ones R', R".
The position of the engines for driving each roller is marked by the
letters M, M', M"%; they are fed by the boilers C, O, Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
On these same Figures will be seen the special arrangement of the
screw propellers H, H, with four blades, placed at the stern of the
vessel and worked by machines A, Figure 2 giving free play to the
rudder.
The frame of the ship has also been studied so as to give it the
sharpest lines for giving the fullest scope to the principle of the Inven-
tion, that is to say, first, the forms of the rollers; second, their rotary
motion simultaneously with the action of the screw propellers.
At the fore part, Figs. 2 and 5 are the store rooms and baggage,
at a, a, are the passengers' cabins; at b, b, the officers'; at c, o, the coal
bunkers, in a word, all has been studied to give the greatest speed to the
vessel, and admit of its taking the longest voyages.
The same principle is equally applicable to river navigation, but where
there is only a small water draught a modification thereof is requisite,
as represented by Figure 7, the frame is arranged at the lower part of

page_text: the rollers for forming a float, and to admit in this particular instance
of the latter receiving the maximum of action.
If an impelling action is imparted to the rolling floats without a
rotary motion thereto it would be necessary to completely neutralize
the obstructing liquid determined by the natural displacement of-the
rollers. If, on the contrary, the movement of rotation imparted to the
rollers is harmonized with the propelling action of the screws, the liquid
gradient is crushed and rolled, and passing under the rollers in some
measure disaggregates the water which formed the obstacle, there only
remaining a slight and minimum effort of division to exercise.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim and desire to
secure by Letters Patent is,—
First. The peculiar form of the rolling cylindrical floats and air reci-
pients being that of a section of a vessel amidships, and provided with
a circular keel and animated with a rotary motion, the object of this
part of my Invention being to disaggregate and crush the opposing
water and give passage to itself, thus attenuating the forcible resistance
of wind and water by the pure and simple displacement thereof..
Second. The combination of the floating cylinders or rotating rollers
with a movement of propulsion by aid of four bladed screws H, H, the
object of this combination being to produce a practical rolling on the
water.
The two essential principles being the circular midship frame form of
the rotating rollers combined with the simultaneous action of the pro-
pellers, in the manner and for the purposes precisely as herein set forth
and as illustrated by the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ernest Bazin, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.