IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRO- PELLING VESSELS, AND FOR WATER WHEELS
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BUCKNALL, of Crutched Friars, in the City of London, Cork Merchant, şend
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of February, in the sixth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Bucknall, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Bucknall, my exors, adññors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Bucknall, my exors, adñiors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRO-
PELLING VESSELS, AND FOR WATER WHEELS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said William Bucknall, shall cause a parti-
cular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Bucknall, do hereby declare, that my improvements in machinery
for propelling vessels, &c. is, to increase power, lessen friction, and to
propel the vessel without that dangerous swell or backwater which common

page_text: paddles make. References being had to the Drawing (letters and figures),
it will be seen the machinery can be used entirely under hatches, and
one set of paddles of the same depth, and little more than one third
the width, will propel a vessel with the same power faster than the common
paddles, and has the facility of drawing the swell even from the head
of the vessel. If used outside, as the common paddles are, the paddle
box need not be higher than the bulwarks of the vessel, and only half the
width of the common paddles ; therefore, to reduce these cumbersome
paddle boxes (on which the wind has great power indeed) is of much im-
portance; it enables the vessel to go to the windward, as well as conduce
to the safety and convenience of all, by an uninterrupted view from the
deck. The construction is very simple: two wheels, at the required dis-
tance, over which the cranks (and joints, if any,) are passed and secured with
a rod or stay, which is made fast by.a screw nut, the paddles or float boards
being attached to the cranks, the main shaft fixed to one of the wheels, which,
on revolving, gives to the paddles or floats an horizontal direction, not
pressing the water down at first, nor lifting it up afterwards, as the common
paddles do, but its main effect is, to have the best hold of the water, and to
propel the vessel in a direct line. For water wheels it is different, the larger
the wheels the greater the power; its advantages are, that you can have double
or three times as many paddles in the best position in the water than the
common wheel can. I therefore describe the nature of my improvements to
be, to increase power by reducing the size of the wheels, to lessen friction by
cranks and joints in lieu of chains, and by making the whole more compact,
rendering that effective and powerful which before had-failed.
Figure 1 represents-a-section of paddle wheels constructed according to
my improvements, to work under hatches, Figure 2, an end view of the
same, letters of reference indicating similar parts in all the Figures.
a, the float boards or paddles, which are fixed by straps and screw bolts,
or by other means, to the cranks marked b; c, the links or joints to
prevent the floats being too close together when a small wheel is required,
as at Figure 1; d, the stays or rods which connect the cranks or joints
to each other, and to keep them in their places secured at one end by a
screw, nut, or pin; e, stays, if required; f, main shaft; 9, the paddle
wheels made of wood or iron, with grooves cut in to keep the cranks and
joints in their place; h, two small rollers to support the weight of the
paddles if required; i, fore and aft bulkheads or framework; j, side bulk-
heads or framework fitted to the deck and bottom, to support the machinery

page_text: and keep out the water; k, the deck of the vessel; l, the bottom of the
vessel; m, the sides and bulwarks; n, the load water line.
Figure 3 represents a vessel with the paddles outside the dotted lines, to
shew the size which the common paddle wheels would be on the same
dimensions, say sixteen feet diameter; o, paddle boxes.
Figure 4 represents paddle wheels with iron cog wheels attached to them;
the main shaft passing through and fixed in the centre one, revolving, gives
the required motion; it can be adjusted to the height of the common paddle
shaft, by making the centre wheel, as the dotted lines, or the two outside
wheels, larger or smaller; if a shaft to cach wheel be used, one set of the
cog wheels will do, and may be worked with the machinery inside the
vessel.
Figure 4, a vessel under sail, having unshipped or taken off her paddles
(by taking out the rod d); the wheels offer little or no resistance in the
water.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bucknall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.