IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF WATER WHEELS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Garrett Tongue, of the Firm of Tongue &
Birkbeck, Patent Agents and Engineers, 34, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF WATER
WHEELS." A communication from abroad by Pierre François Millot,
Hydraulic Engineer, and Madame Augustin Naudin Laplatte, Widow,
both of Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 10th January 1865, and dated the 14th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Garrett Tongue at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th July 1864.
I, JOHN GARRETT TONGUE, of the Firm of Tongue & Birkbeck, Patent
Agents and Engineers, 34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF WATER WHEELS,"
to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to that description of water wheels which act in
a vertical direction upon a horizontal axis, water being admitted from the

page_text: interior of the felloe or outer rim of the wheel, which is divided into buckets,
the form of which may be greatly varied.
The mode of supplying the water to the wheel according to this Invention
prevents the shock of the liquid on its arrival in the bucket, prevents the
overflow of the liquid, and utilizes the velocity of the water in a different
manner to that previously employed.
This improved construction of water wheel is composed of a circular felloe
connected by arms with the central axis, which is supported in suitable
plummer blocks or bearings. The axis carries a toothed wheel or other
mechanical means for transmitting the motion of the water wheel. The water
from the millcourse or other source is conducted a channel which is
divided into two branches, one on each side of the felloe, which are also
turned inwards, and provided with the necessary passages for the supply of
the water to the buckets. These buckets are open to the interior and also to
the exterior of the felloe; the water admitted at the interior is allowed to
escape at the exterior as the buckets descend to the lower level. By this
arrangement of the passages for the entrance and exit of the water the escape
of the water may be retarded as much as is thought desirable, as it is only
necessary to narrow the outlet by elongating the exterior lip of the bucket,
and without its producing any injurious effect on the inlet orifice, which
retains in every case the opening necessary for a free and advantageous
admission of the water. The introduction of the water being effected at the
interior opening of the buckets, the supply apparatus is arranged so as to
provide for the passage of the arms which connect the felloe to the axis of
the wheel. The arms of the wheel being connected to the middle of the
width of the felloe, the supply duct is divided into two, thus forming two
similar but separate supply channels.
According to one part of these improvements the inner face of each bucket
is somewhat below the level of the water, an apron being provided between
which and the felloe only sufficient play is left to permit freedom of motion to
the wheel; this apron is for the purpose of retaining the water for a short
time after its admission, in case it should have a tendency to, run over the
edge of the buckets in the interior of the wheel. For the same purpose the
felloe of the wheel is itself provided with a fixed guard plate. The supply
passages are by preference provided with suitable spouts or outlets, which
serve also to completely cut off the supply of water to the wheel when
desired, they are therefore capable of being raised and lowered at will, and
the two spouts are arranged to move together. The form and arrangement of
'the supply passages may be modified in various ways for the purpose of

page_text: 4
extending the limits between the different volumes of water to be supplied to
the same wheel, and part of these improvements relate to the mode of
arranging the spouts or passages for supplying water to the wheel so as to be
capable of variation to suit the different levels of the water without having
recourse to this supplementary retaining flood gate.
In addition to the above-described means of controlling the supply of water
to the wheel a flood gate or gates may if desired be placed across the mill
stream or watercourse so as to retain the water in case of its suddenly rising
in order to maintain the water at a certain level at the point of admission to
the float boards. Two supply spouts or passages capable of independent
motion towards or from a fixed central partition may be arranged in such
manner as to determine at will the size of two orifices, one above the other,
delivering water together, or separately by pressure, or one by pressure and
the other from a weir or other water supply. An interior projecting flange
on each side of the felloe and enclosing the buckets prevents the lateral escape
of the liquid. The arms of the wheel are connected to the back of the
buckets or felloe at the centre only, so as to leave the back of the buckets on
each side of the arms quite clear for the supply troughs to pass behind them,
in order to admit of the supply of the water to the buckets from the interior
of the felloe, as previously stated.
In order that this mode of construction may be sufficiently firm it is effected by
employing as many buckets, by preference of cast iron, as there are arms to the
wheel. These buckets are cast, by preference, with projecting sockets to receive
the ends of two wooden arms which are fixed at their inner ends to two bosses
mounted on the axle of the wheel, thereby insuring greater stability than
could be effected by a single set of arms, although in the case of small wheels
single set of arms may be employed.
1
. The arrangement of the sockets above referred to may be considerably
modified, and instead of two only one recess may be provided to receive the
two arms in contact the one with the other, and strengthened if desired by tie
bars, bolts, or otherwise.
The form of the buckets of water wheels constructed according to this
Invention may be greatly varied, and in some cases they are formed of a
section composed of continuous curves, as in ordinary wheels where buckets of
sheet metal are employed. Or the buckets may be composed of curves
having projections therein, for the purpose of utilizing the velocity of the
water and preventing its overflowing and oscillation at the commencement
of its work.
Buckets of different sections composed of mixed lines or several right lines

page_text: may be employed according to this Invention, and these several forms may be
constructed of sheet iron and wood, or entirely of wood. The buckets or float
boards may be formed only by an oblique line surrounded on the exterior by a
guard plate or rim pierced with orifices for the escape of the water. The
section of the felloe may be rectangular or widened out to a sharp angle or
curved, the object of which is to facilitate the introduction of the water to the
wheel by a modification of the supply passages..
From the above description of the Invention it will be understood that the
several improvements relate to the admission of the water at the interior of
the felloe of water wheels, as also the improvements connected therewith, as
follows:-
:
First, the arrangement of the interior supply spout permitting of supplying
water from a weir or suitable pressure of water by one or more orifices.
Second, the employment of an interior flange to the felloe to facilitate the
introduction of the water.
Third, the fixed apron or guard plate connected to the supply trough
to retain the water in the buckets of the wheel at the commencement of its
work.
Fourth, the interior guard plate fixed at that part of the felloe of the wheel
between the two points of supply.
Fifth, the mode of uniting of the buckets with the arms of the wheel by
means of cast-iron buckets or float-boards and inclined arms, or by means of
a single set of arms situated in the middle of the width of the buckets..
Sixth, the buckets or float boards of all the various forms described, whether
constructed of wood or metal, or partly of both.
Seventh, the widening out of the felloe.
The various modes of construction may be employed either in metal or
wood, or partly of each, for the entire structure of the wheel, supply passages,
and conducting channels, and the advantages of this system may be obtained
by applying it to small or large falls and expenditure, and arranged to supply
the water to the wheel at such a height as is found convenient, and the
transmitting gear may be arranged as required by mounting the first toothed
wheel on the axle or on the felloe.
Lastly, several wheels may be arranged upon the same shaft by dividing the
supply passages; in this case the wheels would be connected together for
greater strength by iron bars parallel to the axle, and forming a disconnected
cylindrical surface of revolution.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Garrett Tongue, in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GARRETT TONGUE, of the Firm of Tongue & Birkbeck, Patent Agents and
Engineers, 34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto I, the said
John Garrett Tongue, Her special licence that I, the said John Garrett Tongue,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Garrett Tongue, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any:
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF WATER WHEELS," a commu-
nication to me from abroad by Pierre François Millot, Hydraulic Engineer,
and Madame Augustin Naudin Laplatte, Widow, both of Paris, in the.
Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said.
John Garrett Tongue, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
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 John Garrett Tongue, do hereby:
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is:
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the;
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
These improvements relate to that description of water wheels which act in
a vertical direction upon a horizontal axis, the water being admitted from the.
interior of the felloe or outer rim of the wheel, which is divided into buckets,
the form of which may be greatly varied.
The mode of supplying the water to the wheel according to this Invention
prevents the shock of the liquid on its arrival in the bucket, prevents the.

page_text: manner to that previously employed.
The Drawing hereunto annexed represents various views of a water wheel
constructed according to the principle herein-before described, and clearly
shows the various details of construction..
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a water wheel constructed
according to this Invention; Figure 2 is a transverse section taken through
the centre of the wheel; and Figure 8 is a horizontal section. The other
Figures represent various details and modifications, which will be herein-after
fully described.
· Figures 1, 2, and 3 show that this improved construction of water wheel is
composed of a circular felloe or rim A, connected by arms B with the central
axis C, which is supported in suitable plummer blocks or bearings provided
with brasses or rollers. The axis C carries the toothed wheel D for trans-
mitting the motion of the water wheel. The water from the millcourse or
other source is conducted by a channel which is divided into two branches E
(one on each side of the felloe or rim) A, which branches also turn inwards,
and are provided with suitable passages for the supply of the water to the
buckets F. The buckets F are open to the interior and also to the exterior of
the felloe or rim A, the water admitted at the interior escaping at the exterior.
as the buckets descend to the lower level. By this arrangement of the
passages for the entrance and exit of the water the escape of the water may
be retarded as much as is thought desirable, as it is only necessary to narrow
the outlet by elongating the exterior lip of the bucket, and without its
producing any injurious effect on the inlet orifice, which retains in every case
the opening necessary for a free and advantageous admission of the water.
The introduction of the water being effected at the interior opening in the
rim A to the buckets the supply apparatus is arranged so as to provide for
the passage of the arms which connect the felloe or rim A to the axis of
the wheel, and the Drawings show the arrangement by which the arms of the
wheel are connected to the middle of the width of the felloe or rim, the
supply duct being divided into two, thus forming two similar but separate
supply channels.
According to one part of these improvements the inner face of each
bucket F is somewhat below the level of the water, an apron being provided,
between which and the felloe or rim A only sufficient play is left to permit
freedom of motion to the wheel; this apron is for the purpose of retaining

page_text: the water for a short time after its admission in case it should have a tendency.
to run over the edge of the buckets in the interior of the wheel. For the
same purpose the felloe or rim of the wheel is provided with a fixed guard
plate b, either continuous or leaving intervals upon the part between the two.
supply passages. The supply passages are by preference provided with suitable,
spouts or outlets forming an orifice which can according to its position and
that of the level of the water permit of the water being admitted from a.
charged orifice or from a weir. The supply passages serve also to completely.
cut off the supply of water to the wheel when desired, they are therefore
capable of being raised and lowered at will, the two spouts being arranged to
move together. For this purpose the spouts are both operated by mechanism
shown at Figure 3, which may be worked by hand by means of the handle d.,
The form and arrangement of the supply passages may be modified in
various ways for the purpose of extending the limits between the different;
volumes of water to be supplied to the same wheel, and part of these
improvements relate to the mode of arranging the spouts or passages for.
supplying water to the wheel so as to be capable of variation to suit the
different levels of the water without having recourse to this supplementary
retaining flood gate.
In addition to the above-described means of controlling the supply of water
to the wheel a flood gate or gates may if desired be placed across the mill
stream or watercourse so as to retain the water in case of its suddenly rising.
in order to maintain the water at a certain level at the point of admission to
the float boards.
Figure 4 shows a sheet-iron trough E', provided with two supply spouts or
passages G, G', which are capable of independent motion towards or from a
fixed central partition E", may be arranged in such manner as to determine at
will the size of the two orifices, one above the other, delivering water together
or separately by pressure, or one by pressure and the other from a weir or
other water supply. An interior projecting flange e (on each side of the felloo
or rim and enclosing the buckets) prevents the lateral escape of the liquid
and maintains it at the outlet of the supply passages. The arms of the wheel-
are connected to the back of the buckets or felloe at the centre only, so as to
leave the back of the buckets on each side of the arms quite clear for the
supply troughs to pass behind them, in order to admit of the supply of the
water to the buckets from the interior of the felloe, as previously stated..
In order that this mode of construction may be sufficiently firm it is effected.
by employing as many buckets F¹ (by preference of cast iron) as there are
arms to the wheel. These buckets F' (one of which is shown separately at,

page_text: Figures 5 and 6) are cast by preference with projecting sockets f to receive
the ends of two wooden arms, which are fixed at their inner ends to two
bosses H mounted on the axle C of the wheel, as shewn, thereby insuring
greater stability than could be effected by a single set of arms, although in the
case of small wheels a single set of.arms may be employed.
The arrangement of the sockets f above referred to may be considerably
modified as circumstances may require, and instead of two only one recess
may be provided to receive the two. arms in contact the one with the other,
and strengthened if desired by tie bars, bolts, or otherwise.
Figures 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 show forms of buckets constructed according to
this Invention formed of a section composed of continuous curves, as in
ordinary wheels where buckets of. sheet metal are employed. In Figure 4
the section of the buckets is shown composed of curves having projections
therein; this form is principally intended for the purpose of utilizing the
velocity of the water and preventing its overflowing and oscillation at the
commencement of its work.
Figures 8 to 13 represent different sections of buckets composed of mixed
lines or several right lines, according to this Invention, and these forms may
be constructed of sheet iron and wood, or entirely of wood.
Figure 12 shows the buckets or float boards formed only by an oblique lines
surrounded on the exterior by a guard plate or rim pierced with orifices g for
the escape of the water.
The section of the felloe or rim may be rectangular, as shown at Figures 1,
2, 3, or widened out to a sharp angle, or by a curve, as indicated by the
dotted lines in Figure 5, the object of which is to facilitate the introduction of
the water to the wheel by a modification of the supply passages.
From the above description of the Invention it will be understood that the
several improvements consist in the admission of the water at the interior of
the felloe or rim of water wheels, as also the improvements connected there-
with, as follows:-
First, the arrangement of the interior supply spout, permitting of supplying
water from a weir or suitable pressure of water by one or more orifices.
Second, the application of an interior flange to the felloe to facilitate the
introduction of the water.
Third, the fixed apron or guard plate connected to the supply trough to g
retain the water in the buckets of the wheel at the commencement of its
work.
Fourth, the interior guard plate fixed at that part of the felloe of the wheel
between the two points of supply.

page_text: Fifth, the mode of uniting of the buckets F with the arms of the wheel
by means of cast-iron buckets or float boards and inclined arms, or by
means of a single set of arms situated in the middle of the width of the
buckets.
Sixth, the buckets or float boards of all the various forms shown and
described, whether constructed of wood or metal, or partly of both.
Seventh, the widening out of the felloe or rim.
The various modes of construction previously described may be employed
either in metal or wood, or partly of each, for the entire structure of the
wheel, supply passages, and conducting channels, and the advantages of this
system may be obtained by applying it to small or large falls and expenditure,
and arranged to supply the water to the wheel at such a height as is found
convenient, and the transmitting gear may be arranged as required by
mounting the first toothed wheel on the axle or on the felloe.
Lastly, several wheels may be arranged upon the same shaft by dividing
the supply passages; in this case the wheels would be connected together for
greater strength by iron bars parallel to the axle, and forming a disconnected
cylindrical surface of revolution.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Garrett Tongue, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JOHN G. TONGUE.
(L.S.)