IMPROVEMENTS IN FEATHERING PADDLE WHEELS
Year: 1884

page_text: I ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and W. Clark of
53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN FEATHERING PADDLE WHEELS to be as follows :-
The invention relates to feathering paddle wheels and consists in pivoting the
several blades of the wheel at their inner edges in the frame of the wheel and
arranging suitable stops in the frame radially beyond the pivots of the blades and
near their outer edges which act to hold the blades to their work while passing
through the water.
The frame of the wheel is composed of side plates which are by preference made
in skeleton form and are duplicates of each other and are made fast upon the
shaft by any suitable means and are held by collars from lateral movement upon
the shaft.
The blades of the wheel are pivoted at their inner edges upon rods which are
secured at their ends in the side plates and the stops against which a side of the
blades strike as they successively enter and are forced through the water by the
revolution of the wheel are arranged radially beyond the rods so that in operation
the blades are held by the rods and stops in radial position all the time they remain
in the water and until they reach the highest point in the wheel when they swing
forward away from the stops and assume a pendent position until they again enter
the water and meet resistance whereupon they will again assume a radial position
for propulsive action. In order to prevent all lateral movement of the blades upon
the rods I place collars upon the rods between the ends of the blades and the
side plates.
By the above construction the blades are left free to revolve in nearly a full
circle on their rods to act against either side of the stops so that when the paddle
wheel is revolved in either direction the blades will revolve in the same direction
in making a half revolution with each full revolution of the wheel, so that they
will always enter the water edgewise and remain in that position until they meet
resistance when they will be pushed through the water sidewise and thus propel
the vessel. By reversing the direction of revolution of the paddle wheel the blades

page_text: will arrange themselves to their work in the opposite direction in one half a
revolution of the wheel, and the blades feather in front and rear to all resistance
except at the working point.
When the paddle wheel is at rest all of the blades may assume pendent positions,
and the wheel may be immersed in the water nearly to the main shaft and yet
retain its propelling power and feathering advantage and for this reason is adapted
for sea-going vessels as well as for river and coast steamers.
Instead of employing a single set of blades around the wheel I may employ two
or more sets, in which case the rods of the outer blades will serve as the stops for
the outer edges of the inner blades.

page_text: I ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and W. Clark of
53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents. do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FEATHERING PADDLE WHEELS," and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This Invention seeks to provide a practical feathering paddle wheel of simplified
construction and the Invention consists in pivoting the several blades of the wheel
at their inner edges in the frame of the wheel and arranging suitable stops in the
frame radially beyond the pivots of the blades and near their outer edges which
act to hold the blades to their work while passing through the water.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Figures 1 and 2 are sectional elevations of this new and improved paddle wheel
taken on the line x-x of Figure 3 showing respectively the blades of the wheel in
the position they assume when the wheel is at rest and in action. Figure 3 is a
transverse sectional elevation of the wheel, and Figure 4 is a detailed sectional
view of a part of a modified form of wheel constructed to employ two sets of
blades.
The frame of the wheel is composed of the side plates A A. These are by
preference made in skeleton form and are duplicates of each other and are made
fast upon the shaft B by any suitable means and are held from lateral movement
upon the shaft by the collars CC. D D represent the blades of the wheel. These
are pivoted at their inner edges upon the rods E E which are secured at their ends
in the plates A A. Arranged radially beyond the rods E E are the stop rods F F
against which a side of the blades D D strike as they successively enter and are
forced through the water by the revolution of the wheel, so that in operation the
blades D D are held by the rods E and stops F in radial position all the time they
remain in the water and until they reach the highest point in the wheel when they
swing forward away from the rods F and assume a pendent position until they
again enter the water and meet resistance whereupon they will again assume a
radial position for propulsive action, as in Figure 2.
In order to prevent all lateral movement of the blades D upon the rods E,
I place the collars G upon the rods E between the ends of the blades and the side
plates A A, as shown in Figure 3.
Constructed in the manner described, it will be seen that the blades D are left
free to revolve in nearly a full circle on rods E to act against either side of the stop
rods F, so that when the paddle wheel is revolved in either direction the blades
will revolve in the same direction in making a half revolution with each full
revolution of the wheel so that they will always enter the water edgewise and
remain in that position until they meet resistance when they will be pushed
through the water sidewise by both rods E F and thus propel the vessel. By
reversing the direction of revolution of the paddle wheel the blades will arrange
themselves to their work in the opposite direction in one half a revolution of the
wheel and the blades feather in front and rear to all resistance except at the
working point.
When the paddle wheel is at rest all of the blades may assume pendent positions,
ns shown in Figure 1, and the wheel may be immersed in the water nearly to the
main shaft B and yet retain its propelling power and feathering advantage, and

page_text: for this reason is adapted for sea-going vessels as well as for river and coast
steamers.
Instead of employing a single set of blades D around the wheel, I may employ
two or more sets, as shown in Figure 4, in which case the rods E of the outer
blades will serve as the stop rods for the outer edges of the inuer blades as clearly
illustrated in said Figure 4.
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. The feathering paddle wheel herein shown and described consisting of the
frame A secured on shaft B and blades D hinged at their inner edges and adapted
to be held to their work by the rods F placed radially beyond the pivots of the
blades and near their outer edges, substantially as shown and described.
2nd. In a feathering paddle wheel the blades D hinged at their inner edges and
adapted to act against stops near their outer edges, substantially as shown and
described.