Improvements in Submarine Boats and in Apparatus for Propelling the same.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Mar., 1887
Complete Left, 24th Dec., 1887
Complete Accepted. 2nd Mar., 1888
Improvements in Submarine Boats and in Apparatus for Propelling
the same.
I, HENRY MIDDLETON of 3 Wallesley Villas, Wellington Street, Slough, in the
County of Buckingham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows
:-
According to this invention I employ wings which flap to and fro parallel to
themselves for guiding and propelling submarine boats although I prefer to have in
addition screw or other propellers of the ordinary type. These wings are made to
work in a similar manner either to the wings of birds or to the wings of insects, that
is to say, they are either made somewhat concave and more easily bent towards the
concavity than away from it or else straight and equally flexible in both directions-
Two motions can be given to these wings-first they are flapped to and fro, normally
nearly vertically up and down, and second, they can he turned when necessary about
their axes so that the direction of their to and fro motion may be inclined to the
vertical.
By suitably adjusting or changing the direction of the motion of the wings they
can be caused either to raise, lower, turn, propel or stop the boat in a similar way to
that employed by a bird or insect when flying.
A convenient way of carrying and actuating each of these wings is to attach it to a
rod fixed to a ball and socket joint in the ships side. The inner end of this rod is
slotted and receives a block on the end of a piston rod fixed to the piston of a cylinder
of an engine which is mounted on a frame carried on a horizontal transverse axle
whose axis passes through the centre of the ball and socket joint.
As the piston rod works up and down it gives a similar up and down movement to
the wing, and by turning the frame and with it the steam cylinder through any
angle, the direction of the to and fro motion of the wing can be correspondingly
altered.
Or the engines may be fixed in the boat and the wings driven by a crank passing
through the block in the slot and carried by an axis in the frame. In this case the

page_text: motion is transmitted from the engine shaft to the crank through bevelled pinions, so
that the frame can be turned whilst the engine remains fixed.
The wings besides giving great control over the movements of the boat also keep
it steady so that it is possible to fire guns or launch torpedoes from it without causing
it to roll seriously as is the case with all submarine boats at present constructed.
I make the boat either of such a form that all vertical transverse sections of it are
approximately rectangles with rounded corners or else of such a form that all
horizontal sections of it are approximately circular:-in the first case I prefer to
provide the boat with one pair of wings and two screw propellers and in second case
with two pairs of wings and two screw propellers.
For these boats I sometimes employ motors worked by condensible gases whose
point of evaporation is so low that the heat of sea water can be used partly to heat the
same and whose vaporization is further effected by the exhaust of a gunpowder engine
which use to recondense these gaseous substances after they have been chilled by
chemical processes to render possible the working of them in engines according to
Carnot's Cycle.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Submarine Boats and in Apparatus for Propelling
the same.
I, HENRY MIDDLETON of 3 Wallesley Villas, Wellington Street, Slough, in the
County of Buckingham, Engineer, 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:-
According to this invention I employ wings which flap to and fro parallel to
themselves for guiding and propelling submarine boats although I prefer to have in
addition screw or other propellors of the ordinary type. These wings are made to
work in a similar manner either to the wings of birds or to the wings of insects, that
is to say, they are either made somewhat concave and more easily bent towards the
concavity than away from it or else straight plane surfaces and equally flexible in both
directions. Two motions can be given to these wings- first they are flapped to and
fro, normally nearly vertically up and down, and second, they can be turned when
necessary about their axes so that the direction of their to and fro motion may be
inclined to the vertical.
By suitably adjusting or changing the direction of the motion of the wings they can
be caused either to raise, lower, turn, propel or siop the boat in a similar way to that
employed by a bird or insect when flying.
A convenient way of carrying and actuating each of these wings is to attach it to a
rod fixed to a ball and socket joint in the ships side. The inner end of this rod is
slotted and receives a block on the end of a piston rod fixed to the piston of a cylinder
of an engine which is mounted on a frame carried on a horizontal transverse axle whose
axis passes through the centre of the ball and socket joint.
As the piston rod works up and down it gives a similar up and down movement
to the wing, and by turning the frame and with in the steam cylinder through
any angle, the direction of the to and fro motion of the wing can be correspondingly
altered.
Or the engines may be fixed in the boat and the wings driven by a crank passing
through the block in the slot and carried by an axis in the frame. In this case the
motion is transmitted from the engine shaft to the crank through bevelled pinions, so
that the frame can be turned whilst the engine remains fixed.
The wings besides giving great control over the movements of the boat also keep it
steady so that it is possible to fire guns or launch torpedoes from it without causing it
to roll seriously as is the case with all submarine boats at present constructed.
I make the boat either of such a form that all vertical transverse sections of it are
approximately rectangles with rounded corners. The form of the boat may however
be such that all horizontal sections of it are approximately circular-In the first case
I prefer to provide the boat with one pair of wings and two screw propellers and in
second case with two pairs of wings and two screw propellers.
For these boats I sometimes employ motors worked by condensable gases whose
point of evaporation is so low that the heat of sea water can be used partly to heat the
same and whose vaporization is further effected by the exhaust of a gunpowder engine
which I use to recondense these gaseous substances after they have been chilled by
chemical processes to render possible the working of them in engines according to
Carnot's cycle.
I also sometimes employ to raise the temperature of the intermediary body (preferably

page_text: 27
alcohol, ether, or ammonia, though water may be used)-the heat produced by burning
some chemical mixture, or chemical compound which either contains in itself all the
materials necessary to produce combustion-as for example some of the slow burning
gun powders," or such chemical mixtures or compounds which when united under
proper conditions produce the sought for chemical changes and disengage the heat
requisite for converting into vapour or gas, the intermediary body. Thus I may use
"nitre" (nitrate of potash) and charcoal (or carbon in convenient form) or chlorate
of potash and charcoal, or chlorate of potash sugar, and sulphuric acid, or any
other substances which appear suitable from a heat producing and other standpoint.
Moreover a small amount of explosiveness is not considered by me to be detrimental
inasmuch as I in such case use a separate chamber which communicates with the main
heating chamber with a valve or door.
But the heated gases have another function to perform besides that of raising the
temperature of the "intermediary body," or vapour, gas, or steam, by which the
propelling and directing engines of my ship are actuated; this second function is to
work pumps or other engines either for the feeding of the "boilers" supplying them
with food and fuel, or relieving the ship of water, or propelling the ship to a more or
less extent either by their direct ejection or by the pumping in and out of
water, &c. &c.
Concerning the apparatus and methods used for the Super Marine working of the
ship no explanation is necessary; the boilers being filled (more or less) with water,
alcohol, ether, or other suitable intermediary substance whose vapour is first produced
by heat derived from coal or gas burnt in air, and the exhaust vapour condensed by
ordinary condensers and returned to the "boiler" to be used over and over again.
For the submarine working of the boat an easily vaporizable fluid is preferably
employed for the intermediary body. The "fuel" for securing such vaporization is
either a slow burning powder composition, as for example rocket-powder, or a composi-
tion, of 1 part of saltpeire, 3 parts of gunpowder and 3 parts of sulphur vioum; or
nitre and charcoal when the fuel is non-explosive, the heated gas holders pass directly
up into the intermediary body and the mechanical arrangements for loading and
reloading are omitted for simplicity. When the "fuel" used consists of a more
explosive compound, such compound is exploded or burnt in separate chambers.
In either method when it is requisite to recharge the cylinders the powder chamber
is disconnected from the gas heating cylinder and is put in communication with a
chemical mixture or compound to absorb the already burnt gases, except in the case
where the submersion of the boat is so small that the greater portion of the
contents of the chambers can be ejected into the surrounding fluid the ship is
moving in.
When the contents of the chamber to be reloaded is thus got rid of, it is refilled : again
put in communication with the hot gas reservoir and fired.
To secure the quick heating of the "intermediary body" or fluid, such fluid may be
contained in tubes or spirals, and the contents of the combustion or explosive chambers
discharged around them.
When the pressure of the heated gas chambers becomes too great to be safely
sustained their contents may be directly discharged into the sea, and by suitable
arrangements used to propel or direct the ship or such contents may be first passed
through a sort of sieve arrangement of dry or moistened asbestos, and other materials
to mechanically arrest the solid products of the powder combustion, then through a
chemical solution or solutions to so further purify them that the heated gaseous products
referred to be used to work pumps and engines.
In order that my said invention may be most fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed.

page_text: Figure 2 is a plan of the engines.
a is the outer skin of the boat-b, b, are the cylinders of the engine-they are supported
by standards e, c, d is the crank shaft; at its two ends are the bevelled pinions e, e,
which gear with the pinions on the transverse shafts ", ', which carry the cranks,,
these cranks give motion to the arms h, h, which carry the wings. The arms h, h,
work in ball and socket joints in the side of the ship, as shown. jj, is the frame carrying
the transverse shafts, this frame is capable of moving about the axis of the
crank shaft d, being moved by the pinion k, gearing with the rack ¹ fixed to the
frame.
Figure 3 is a transverse section and Figure 4 is a side view of a modified form of
boat and engine-In these as before a is the skin of the boat-b, b, are the cylinders
and d is the crank shaft. In this case, as is shown, the engines are carried in a
frame, which is capable of turning about the ball and socket joints.
The boat shown in Figures 1 and 2 is of circular section and that in Figures 3
and 4 rectangular but these forms might be interchanged.
Figure 5 shows a diagrammatic representation in section of the supermarine hoiler
with submarine attachment or boiler surrounded by a gas tight casing so arranged
that the burnt powder gases from the combustion chamber may be passed into it
under the furnace bars m as shown. The solid powder composition-blocks with central
hole for enabling the upper portion of the powder to be ignited are passed upwards
into the cylindrical chambers n n which have at their upper ends taps, stopcocks, or
other method of interrupting the communication between them and the pipe t leading
to the boiler o. P is the steam pipe or pipe conveying to the engines the vapour of
the intermediary body, be such water or any other convenient fluid. It may be
advisable first to filter the products of combustion formed in combustion cylinders n
then use them to work motors or other engines and only when their temperature and
pressure has considerably fallen by the abstraction of the heat converted into work,
pass such exhaust into the boiler and inasmuch as the shape of that shown in Figure 5
will not permit conveniently of high gaseous pressures therein.
Figure 6 shows a diagrammatic representation in section of one form of submarine
boiler in which o, o, represents the space to be more or less filled with the intermediary
or working substance. p, p, tubular vessels therein placed for the purpose of heating
the intermediary substance by the hot gases generated from the combustion of the
composition burnt or exploded in the chamber q. r is a vessel containing water or
other fluid to prevent the temperature of the powder vessel rising too high and the
vapour of the fluid which it contains may be used to work a "donkey engine" or
other small motor used for different purposes in the submarine ship.
Figures 7 && show two methods of constructing the wings. They consist of a
blades which is comparatively rigid to which transverse flexible blades s', s¹, are
attached. These blades s', s, either overlap each other or the joints between them
may be underlaid with fabric or the like.
Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view of the submarine boat. L is the lookout or conning
tower M is the supermarine and N the submarine boiler P is the fin engine and Q the
oscillating engines of one of the propeller screws of which there are two in this form
of ship.
Figures 10 and 11 show an attachment to the fins which can be added in case it is
considered advisable to fold the fins in towards the side of the ship, or by flexing them
slightly cause them to make the ship ascend or descend by causing the centres of
pressure of the fins to lie before or behind the transverse axis of the ship which is
supposed to be a line such that the movements of the weights about the same is zero
when such are considered with reference to their tendency to elevate the bow or stern
of the vessel. When the centres of pressure of the fins coincide with this line during
their reciprocating stroke the ship tends to move on an even keel, but when such
centres of pressure be before or behind the same the bow or stem is tilted upwards as
the case may be.
When the fins are horizontal and are flexed completely back they enter a recess or
chamber R (Figure 10). Z (Figure 10) is a disc of thick india rubber corrugated or

page_text: otherwise and supported by springs to enable it to stand the water-pressure. This
disc is fastened by its middle to the fin stem and round its circumference to a sort of
rim U (Figure 10) projecting slightly out from the ship's hull X (Figure 10).
V(shown in Figure 11) is a small wheel to keep the straight rack against the teeth
of the cog wheel Y.
S is a spur wheel or sector of a circle with teeth to work the straight rack T (see
Figures 10 and 11).
Figure 12 is a section of the combustion or explosion chainbers. The cylinders PP
(of which there may be any convenient number) are loaded from above either with
cartridges or with loose composition. The boiler to which this apparatus is attached
is shown in Figure 6 Sheet II.
Figure 13 is a section in more detail of the diagrammatic sketch shown in Sheet II
where the boiler &c. &c. is shown in Figure 5. q holes to allow flame produced by
the friction of the primed piston p, against the end m to ignite the powder.
Figure 14. G pipe conveying burnt gases from powder composition. E chemical
solution to purify the same. K asbestos between gratings W and W.
my said
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. Propellers for submarine boats consisting of flexible wings whose posterior edge
can either be bent with equal ease upwards or downwards or else are more flexible in
one direction than in the other substantially as described.
2. The combination with such wings of engines capable of causing them to flap to
and fro in any plane substantially as described.
3. The engine and connections for working such wings substantially as described
and shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.
4. The engine and connections for working such wings substantially as described
and shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings.
5. Submarine boats of rectangular vertical section and circular horizontal section
propelled and guided by screw propellors and wings substantially as described.
6. Motors for submarine boats worked by condensible gases whose point of
evaporation is so low that the heat of the sea water can be used partly to heat the
same.
7. Motors worked by condensible gases whose point of evaporation is so low that
the heat of the sea water can be used partly to heat the same whose vaporization is
further effected by the exhaust of a gunpowder engine used to recondense the gaseous
substances after they have been chilled by chemical processes.
8. Motors whose "intermediary or working substance" may be heated by coal or
other convenient combustible-or even the exhaust vapour from the engines-when
the ship is above water; and by burning gun-powder, rocket-powder, or other
chemical compound, which contains of itself enough oxygen to burn it, when the ship
is below water.
9. The method of purifying the products of combustion of chemical mixtures similar
in composition to gun-powder, and using the purified products aforesaid to work
engines.
10. The improvements substantially as described and shown in Figures 5 to 13 of
the drawings.