IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND PROPULSION OF SHIPS OR VESSELS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Walter Robert Kinipple at the
Office of the Cominissioners of Patents on the 3rd November 1881.
WALTER ROBERT KINIPPLE, of 2, Westminster Chambers, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Civil
Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND PROPULSION OF SHIPS
OR VESSELS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
"
This Invention, which relates to improvements in the construction and
propulsion of ships or vessels, and in the apparatus employed therefor, consists as
follows: One or more paddle wheels of large diameter are arranged at or near to
midships" or the centre of the vessel. This paddle wheel or the paddle wheels
is or are contained within a well or wells, which is or are open at the bottom to
the water in which the vessel floats, and the paddle wheel or wheels is or aro
capable of being raised or lowered to any depth in the water in the manner and by
the means hereinafter described. The paddle wheel or wheels is or are arranged
on a shaft or shafts, which in the case of two paddle wheels may be capable of
being driven independently of each other for the reason hereinafter mentioned.
The engines for driving the paddle wheel or wheels may be of the horizontal
type, and the slides or guides wherein the shafts and blocks which carry the
bearings of the crank shafts are moved are preferably arranged in a quadrantal
form with the length of the connecting rod as the radius. Vertical or oscillating
When the
engines may also be employed for driving the paddle wheel or wheels.
ship is in deep water the paddle wheel or wheels is or are depressed by admitting
water into an air tight compartment surrounding the shaft or shafts, or by levers,
screws, or their equivalents, to any depth consistent with the resistance to be
overcome and the speed to be made; and when approaching a harbour or coming
into shallow water, the paddle wheel or wheels is or are raised to prevent the same
from coming in contact with the bottom. The raising may be effected by letting
water out of the air tight compartment around the shaft, thus enabling the
floating capabilities of the paddle wheel or wheels hereinafter described to come
into operation.
One or more auxiliary paddle wheels constructed and fitted in the manner
herein before and hereinafter described may also be provided both fore and aft the
"midching" section of a vessel.

page_text: When two paddle wheels arranged as bereinbefore described on separate shafts
(or when one paddle wheel is fixed whilst the other runs loose upon the same
shaft) are employed, the same niay be used for steering the ship or for turning her
on her centre, as is necessary and of special advantage in manoeuvring ships of
war, the engines being arranged so as to drive the two wheels at different rates of
speed and in reverse directions. It is also preferred as a part of this Invention to
transfer the regulation of the engines entirely to the steersman by providing a
brake, which the steersman can operate by hand or foot in conformity with the
steering requisite, and by also providing a lever or levers and connections for
reversing the engines and for stopping and starting the same.
In the case of ships of war the engines are contained within an armour plated
belting. The paddle wheels are or may be constructed on what is known as the
cellular type of construction, as hitherto applied to ships' bottoms and certain
kinds of bridges. In this way the buoyancy of the said paddle wheels is ensured.
The floats of the paddle wheels are also formed of corrugated metal, with the
corrugations running either horizontally, vertically, or inclined, which gives great
stiffness of structure with lightness, the corrugated surfaces also having a better
hold on the water than a smooth surface.
The lower parts of the wells, in which the aforesaid paddle wheels are contained,
are preferably formed with easy curves so as to ensure a minimum of resistance to
the influx and efflux of the water, and doors, either sliding or hinged, are applied
to the bottom of the wheel so as to close up the well when desired, thereby
converting the ship into that of a sailing ship or vessel, the paddle wheel or
wheels being at the same time raised to within the well, thereby enabling the
doors to be closed.
The paddle-wheels are by preference driven by spur or equivalent gearing from
the main shaft of the engine.
In place of arranging the paddle-wheel-or-wheels-in-a-well-or-in-wells-as-
herein before described, they may be applied in the space between the hulls of
twin-ships of the class of which the "Calais-Douvre" is a well known type; or
the hull of the ship may be constructed with a longitudinal hollow or space fore
and aft the well or wells, and into which space or spaces the paddle wheels
project.