Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Oct., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Nov., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 31st Dec., 1888
I, JOSEPH MONTEITH of Carstairs House, Carstairs, in the County of Lanark,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
--
My invention relates to improved means for effecting aerial locomotion for which
purpose I propose to employ a vessel carrying an electric motor or series of motors
supplied with current by a wire or cable connected to a conductor on the ground the
said motor or motors being fitted and arranged to drive a series of screw blades or
fans of which one or more may be so placed as to tend to raise the vessel vertically
or in an inclined path whilst others serve to impart to it a motion of translation
through the air. The weight of the apparatus may be supported by inflating a portion
of the vessel or by balloons acting in conjunction with the vertical propellers or by
the latter alone.
These means for navigating or directing the movement of a vessel through the air
may be applied to facilitate the ascent and descent of balloons. The balloon or
other vessel is or may be provided with photographic apparatus.
Natad this Tanth day of Astiko- 1000
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
62, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agents.

page_text: I, JOSEPH MONTEITH, of Carstairs House, Carstairs, in the County of Lanark,
Gentleman, 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 :-
My invention relates to improved means for effecting aërial locomotion for which
purpose I employ a vessel carrying an electric motor or number of motors; supplied
with current by a wire or cable connected to a conductor on the ground the said
motor or motors being fitted and arranged to drive a series of screw blades or fans
of which one or more may be so placed as to tend to raise or lower the vessel
vertically or in an inclined path whilst others serve to impart to it a motion of
translation through the air. The weight of the apparatus may be supported by
inflating a portion of the vessel or by balloons acting in conjunction with the vertical
propellers or by the latter alone.
The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention under various modifications of
aërostats and arrangements for propelling them.
In figure 1 a cigar shaped balloon A is shown having suspended from it a car B
adapted for carrying passengers and the electro motors by which propulsion is effected.
C, is a propeller situated under the car and fixed on a vertical shaft which constitutes
the armature shaft of a dynamo electric motor fitted in the car B. CC₁ are propellers
fixed on horizontal shafts constituting the armature shafts of electro motors carried
one on each side of the balloon by a light framing D extending up from the car and
also supported from the netting of the balloon. C2, C3, are propellers fitted at the
ends of the car and similarly driven.
To the several motors wires or other conductors for the electric current are led the
said wires communicating through suitable wires in the cable E with a conductor F
at the ground and through which the current for driving the motors on the acrostat is
supplied by a current generator. The conductor F is conveniently formed by a
suitably insulated railway track the rails of which are formed with T heads or flanges
on the under edges of which run wheels carried by a framing G attached to the
balloon cable as represented in the lower part of figure 1 and in plan at figure 2.
The framing G is drawn along the rails by the movement of the balloon and whilst
serving to keep it captive enables the electric current to be transmitted through the
running gear to the wires in the cable, the conductor F being connected to the
current generator so that one rail serves as a return wire. By the arrangements
described the aërostat merely supports the weight of the comparatively light electro
motors employed for driving the propellers, whilst the heavier power generating
apparatus is at the earth's surface and stationary.
The aërostat constructed and operated as described may be propelled backwards
and forwards in straight lines or in a sinuous path in relation to a vertical or hori-
zontal plane, or it may be gyrated on its axis or propelled round a fixed point in the

page_text: form of an aerial merry-go-round, or circular "switch-back" steering being effected
by varying the speed of the propellers or by fitting the propellers at bow and stern
to be movable obliquely. The cable may be paid out or hauled in as required either
from the aërostat or from the ground.
Figure 3 is a side elevation figure 4 an end elevation and figure 5 a plan of an
acrostat adapted to be operated in any of the ways above described, but having in
addition to the propellers shown applied in figure 1 a propeller Cat each end on a
shaft driven by an electro motor. It is preferred that the propeller at one end should
be right handed and that at the other end left handed and rotated in an opposite
direction in order to obviate any tendency to turn the balloon on its longitudinal axis.
Two vertically acting propellers one right handed and the other left handed and
rotated in opposite directions are also provided in liou of the single propeller (
represented at figure 1 to obviate imparting a gyratory movement to the car.
Figure 6 shows a similar aërostat but provided with propellers (2 at each end only
for imparting a motion of translation and propellers under the car for giving vertical
movement.
Figure 7 is a side elevation figure 8 an end elevation and figure 9 a plan of a twin
balloon propelled in, the manner above described by means of a propeller or propellers C¹
actuated by an electro motor or motors situated in a space between the balloons and
carried by a framing from the balloons and cars. Vertically acting propellers C are
carried by a framing extending across from car to car and by the cars. Figure 10 is
an end elevation showing a twin balloon similarly operated but in which the balloons
are situated one vertically over the other instead of being in the same horizontal plane-
The arrangement of the propellers may be varied to suit tho requirements of each case
as modified by the form of aerostat.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :—
1. An aerostat provided with propelling mechanism operated by electro motors the
said motors being supplied with current through a cable or cables electrically
connected to a conductor at the ground substantially as described.
2. An aerostat provided with propelling mechanism operated by electric current
transmitted from the earth's surface for imparting to it movement vertically and in an
approximately horizontal path substantially as described.
Dated this Twenty second day of November 1888.
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agents.