IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODES OF COMMUNICATING OR TRANSMITTING MOTION TO PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Armand Jean Baptiste Louis de Marcescheau, of
Paris, Ancient Consul-General Chargé d'Affaires, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODES OF COMMUNICATING OR TRANSMITTING MOTION TO
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Armand Jean Baptiste.
Louis de Marcescheau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 26th December 1856.
I, ARMAND JEAN BAPTISTE LOUIS DE MARCESCHEAU, of Paris, Ancient:
Consul-General Chargé d'Affaires, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODES OF COMMUNICATING OR TRANSMITTING
MOTION TO PROPELLING APPARATUS, ENGINES. OR MACHINERY."
My improvements are illustrated by the annexed Drawings, for instance,
the three wheels shewn in Pl. I. (Fig. 1 and 4 being front views, and Fig. 2
and 3 plans) are those of a locomotive not represented in the Figure. The
equal wheels P and Q, one of which is actuated by the pistons, are connected,
as usual on railroads, by a coupling bar F, which causes both P and Q to be
driving wheels. Now, by means of my improvement, the smaller wheel R
becomes also a driving wheel, the crank a being equal to cranks p and q.
The coupling bar G connects wheel Q with roller A, and makes Q and A
revolve conjointly; the roller A communicates motion to roller C, tangent
to A and B, roller C to roller B, roller B to wheel R, by means of the coupling
bar H, the cranks 6 and u being equal. The proportion between the diameters
of A and B is the same as between the diameters of Q and R. The casing 1
of C is hanging on screw 3, upheld by the stationary screw box 2, and is

page_text: moveable in the direction of the axis of the said screw,by the agency of which
the degree of pressure of C on A and B may be regulated at pleasure.
Pl. II., in a front view, shows a portion of the organs and dispositions
whereby a rectilinear reciprocating or intermittent motion is transformed into
a rotative motion,given to a shaft without the the help of catchings. E is one
of two similar frames which communicate a rotative motion to the shaft A.
The frame E consists of two bars, B, No. 1, and B, No. 2, stretched, the former
above A, the latter underneath; they are united by bolts D, No. 1, and D,
No. 2, and kept at a proper distance from each other by the heads and screw
nuts of the said bolts, and by the shoulders d of the springs K, receiving
motion from the reciprocating intermittent course of the rod T, No.2, the eye
of which is traversed by bolt P, No. 2, which bolt also traverses both bars,
and is guided by rod T, No. 1, the eye of which is traversed by the bolt P,
No. 1, which bolt similarly traverses both bars. The swelled parts of bar B.
No. 1, and of bar B, No. 2, each and in turn meet and press with the facets
upon c', c, c3, c, the periphery equal to a quadrant, or to rather more than a
sector, concentric with the shaft A, the salient end of the said sector being
renominated by me in the course of this Specification the cylindrical pinion C.
To prevent the frame E from slipping and moving quicker than the shaft A,I
attach to the bar B, No. 1, the crop pin b, No. 1, and to bar B, No. 2, the
crop pin 6, No. 2.
I suspend on the pins of the equal cranks (to be seen in
Pl. III.) of the shaft A, and of the auxiliary shaft a, a coupling bar, with two
vertical pillars (both bars and pillars may be seen, Pl. III.), which cranks,
coupling bars, and pillars are similar to J', H'F', g', No. 1, g', No. 2,
belonging to the system of the second frame not seen in Pl. II.
The Fig. 2 (Pl. III.) represents a plan of the middle part of the whole
system at the moment when frame E is not yet stopped, and the second frame
E' on the point of starting. The parts of the frame E which are represented,
are 1st, the upper bar B, No. 1, with its cross pin b, No. 1, touching pillars g,
No. 1, and g, No. 2 of the coupling bar F, hanging on the elbowed pinj of the
crank J,which is fixed on one end of the shaft A, the cylindrical pinion Cof
which is also visible, and which bears on its end a cogged wheel, and on the
pin h of the crank H, fixed on one end of the auxiliary shaft a; 2, the upper
bar B', No. 1, with its bolt D', No. 1, and its cross pin b', No. 1, touching the
pillars g', No. 1, and g', No. 2, of the coupling bar F', hanging on the pin j
of the crank J', fixed on the other end of A, of which C' is the second cylin-
drical pinion, and on the pin ' of the crank H fixed on the other end of a.
The Figures 3 and 4 (Pl. III.) show how the motion of a coupling bar N
may be communicated to a rod or bar L, constantly maintained by a guide in

page_text: a given direction, so as to make it go either up and down, or to and fro, in a
succession of reciprocating rectilinear motions. The foot M of L is provided
with two rows of rollers g and g', in contact with the upper and lower faces e
and e' of N, which is hanging on the pins b, No. 1, and 6, No. 2, of cranks,
the axle pins of which, e, No. 1, and e, No. 2, of which revolve on the bearings
P" of the stationary pieceO. When moving, the part N slipping between the
two rollers g and g', drives the rod Lup r down, and two-and-fro alternately.
Such frames as O, P, N, may also serve as conveying bridges, to carry
from one side to another, or from a higher level to a lower one, loads laying
or hanging on N.
Pl. IV. shows how the motion of a system of coupling bars may be com-
municated to a ship B, partly seen (Fig. 2 and 3), so as to propel it. The
partly figured propeller R (Fig. 2 and 3) is a composite coupling bar hanging
on a number of pins, partly represented, and similar to H, which belong to
cranks like those of the axle pins C and D), which, like others similar to them,
and partly seen, are supported by the wall of the hull B, and by the horizontal
bar V, partly seen (Fig. 2 and 3). The structure of R is as follows:-
Thirty rectangular vertical paddles e (twenty-six of which are not represented,
Fig. 1) are supported by two frames, like A (Fig. 1), and united by four cross
bolts C (Fig. 2), two of which are unseen. A consists of two horizontal bars a,
united at their ends by two vertical bars b, and of thirty vertical bars d
(twenty-six are not represented), bolted to both bars a, with which bars done
end of each paddle e is fastened by the hooks f. The upper a is provided with
a few rings g, partly unseen, which are traversed by pins similar to H The
aforesaid bar V is supported by a few stakes D, partly unseen, pending from
the outside platform F, partly unseen. L is a vertical coupling bar, com-
municating the motion of the motive shaft G to the crank of the small axle
C. The external coupling bar L (Fig. 2) serves to keep R in a regular
position. T (Fig. 3) is a horizontal coupling bar, communicating motion
between two vertical coupling bars E.
My improvement in the communication of motion usually made by means
of a strap, in the manner shown Pl. V. In a straight rectangular band
(Fig. 1), made of any convenient material, but principally of flexible metal, I
cut out a number of rectangular holes, like C, and surround the remaining
blades with cylindrical envelopes (Fig. 1, 2, and 3), so as to make cross
cylinders Q, fitting inside the cogs of a cog wheel H". On each jaw of said H',
I adapt one of the cylinders H, H", whose periphery receives the flat borders B,
maintained in contact with by the concentric guide 6 (Fig. S). To a strap
thus constructed I have given the name of "catching strap," and the organ

page_text: (Fig. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8), consisting of H, 11, H", I have called a toothed
drum. The Figures 6 and 7 (the former a plan, the second a front view\
show how a single endles catching strap C, partly figured, stretched on two
extreme toothed drums A, A', and on intermediate toothed drums 1 to 6,
1' to 6', (partly figured,) may become a circulating bridge, whose aprou Bis
adapted to the conveyance of loads both ways at the same time when driven by
the catching strap D, stretched on the two extreme toothed drums F, on the
upper intermediate toothed drums E, partly figured, and on as many other
lower drums (not represented). Such an arrangement permits to increase
at pleasure the length of the catching strap D, therefore this and its toothed
drums being made very light, such a bridge might conveniently convey loads
of a suitable nature over a tract of any length with extraordinary speed.
The catching strap B (Fig. 8), driven by the toothed drum C,is employed to
carry two buckets, one up, the other down, according to the direction of the
motion of the handle e; d is a casing holding at once one end of the catching
strap B, and one end of the rope on which the bucket is hanging.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Armand Jean Baptiste Louis de Marcescheau in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th June 1857.
. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME I. ARMAND
JEAN BAPTISTE LOUIS DE MARCESCHEAU, of Paris, Ancient Consul-Generai,
Chargé d'Affaires, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Armand Jean Baptiste Louis de Marcescheau, Her special licence that
I, the said Armand Jean Baptiste Louis de Marcescheau, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Armand Jean Baptiste
Louis de Marcescheau, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN THE MODES OF COMMUNICATING MOTION IN VARIOUS APPLICATIONS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Armand Jean Baptiste

page_text: Louis de Marcescheau, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Armand Jean Baptiste Louis de
Marcescheau, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
These improvements having various applications will be better understood,
perhaps, by giving examples of their use and mode of acting.
I. Improvement in the mode of transmitting motion to a propelling appa-
ratus for ships.
Pl. 1., in which Fig. 1, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 14 are transversal sections,
Fig. 3, 4, 5, 11, 13, and 15 are side views, Fig. 9 is a birds'-eye view, Fig. 2
and 12 are horizontal sections) shows my improved method of communicating.
and transmitting motion to an apparatus for the purpose of propelling ships,
or to any other apparatus constructed for the application of the characteristic.
principle hereafter explained.
The apparatus (Fig. 1, 2, 3), Fig. 1 being a double transversal section
made through two distinct vertical planes, as indicated by the broken line
A, B, M, N. of the Fig. 2, consists of four completely similar propellers P,
two at starboard and two at larboard. Each of them (see also Fig. 5) is.
composed of rectangular paddles m, all equal, equally distant, and attached
to a frame p, which keeps them all steady, upright, and parallel to each
other, with their upper edges on a level.
Now, Q, No. 1 and 2 (Fig. 1 and 2) are two equal parallel motive shafts
revolving conjointly, having their axes in the same horizontal plane, and
bearing at each end a crank n. The four cranks n being equal, and similarly
directed, are of course seen partly out of the hull H. Each propeller is
provided with four rings g, represented Fig. 5 (namely, two on each side
parallel to the axis of the ship), and is hanging on the pins of the corre-
sponding cranks n. Each said pin f, after traversing also the outer rings g,
represented Fig. 5, has its outer end upheld by the opposite crank h, equal
to n, whereby the conditions of solidity and equilibrium are obtained. Of
course, auxiliary cranks and rings might be added, if needed, on each side
to assist in supporting the propeller P.
Now it is obvious, first, that the motion of the propeller P,(see Fig. 1, :, 3,)

page_text: is exactly like that of the coupling rods in locomotives, so that any line in
the propeller is constantly moving parallel to its former position; secondly.
that the two propellers P, moved by the couple of shafts Q, No. 1 and 2,
begin and cease to work at the same time when in still water.
R, Nos. 1 and 2, are two other motive shafts, similar and parallel to Q.
Nos. 1 and 2, the four axes being in the same horizontal plane, but their
cranks n are vertically upwards when the cranks n of Q, Nos. 1 and 2, are
vertically downwards, and so on. Therefore, and whereas, the motion of the
piston rods (Fig. 2) of the horizontal cylinders is communicated to the four
shafts at once by the usual agency of a driving wheel and of pinions (D and d
in Fig. 2 and 6), it is evident that the couple of propellers P moved by Q
Nos. 1 and 2, and the couple of propellers P' moved by R, Nos. 1 and 2, work
successively; moreover, the lengths of the crank n, and the height above
water of their axis of rotation, may be so arranged that the propeller P be
completely out of water when the axes of their respective cranks are in a
horizontal position, and completely plunged when the said axes are
vertically downwards.
The intermediate parts of the shafts R, No. 1 and 2, might be suppressed in
the manner shown, Fig. 12, in which case the shaft of the driving wheel
should have an elbowed crank (as in Fig. 12), instead of each of the single
cranks represented (Fig. 2), and be sufficiently lengthened to receive two
other driving wheels of the same dimensions as the former, one at the star-
board,the other at larboard,in order to communicate motion to each remaining
fragment of the shafts R, Nos. 1 and 2, by means of a set of three pinions.
In Fig. 12, the motion communicated in the usual way by the piston rods
of the unseen engine to the shaft Q, No. 1, is transmitted from this to Q,
No. 2, by the horiz. ntal coupling rods E, G, hanging the first on the two
elbowed cranks at starboard, the second on the two at larboard. The latter
are so disposed as to become vertical when the two at starboard become
horizontal. The very same coupling rods E and G transmit motion from Q,
No. 2, to the single cranks of the remaining fragments of the shaft R,
No. 1 and 2, the, intermediate parts of which have been suppressed, with a
portion of each elbow, in order to keep the middle space of the ship clear.
It may be here added, that whatever the number of propellers P' in the file
may be, if they are to be put in motion by the same engine, the motion must
be transmitted to all their motive shafts, or fragments of shafts, by the same
coupling rod E and G, as exemplified in the said Fig. 12. In that instance
all the axes of rotation are laid in the same horizontal plane, but should there
happen to be another set of axes in a higher or lower horizontal plane, the first
:

page_text: couple in that second set ought to belong to full length shafts. Motion
should then be transmitted by a special coupling rod from the last shaft or
fragment of shaft of the motive set to the first shaft of the second set.
Fig. 4 shows the position of the cranks n, in case there should be four
propellers P on each side of a hull. The foremost couple of cranks is seen
vertically downwards, while the second couple is in a horizontal position
backwards, the third is vertically upwards, and the hindmost horizontally
forwards, the result of that disposition, or of any other of a similar nature,
would be a continued propulsion with a constant propelling area.
Two or more propellers P may be placed the one beside the other, as
exemplified in Fig. 10, and be driven by the same couple of shafts, the
cranks n being so directed as to allow the propellers to work successively,
and the cushions of their shafts being upheld by bars or posts pending
from the top of the paddles-box.
From the preceding description it is easy to conceive how the propelling
apparatus might be placed behind the ship, and, if wanted, reduced to half
the number of propellers P, it is accordingly superfluous to represent such
an arrangement by any special Figure.
Fig. 14, in which the paddle is visibly larger in height than in length, is
intended to show that the above-described mode of transmitting motion to
propellers like P renders it possible considerably to increase the propelling
area, by fitting the propeller with paddles much deeper than usual, and by
applying the power on or very near the central lines of propulsion.
The new mode of transmitting motion to a propelling apparatus presents
another very great advantage, inasmuch as by this method the apparatus can
be instantaneously withdrawn from the water, or again be put into operation,
whenever wanted,.since all that is required is simply, as shown in Fig. 15, to
stop each propeller whilst it is moving out of the water, and with its cranks in
or above the horizontal plane containing their axes of rotation, and to prevent
it from meving by means of a stopper, which, as soon as removed,permits it at
once to work again. In order to effect this (see Fig. 7, 8, 9, and 12), the
extremities of each motive shaft is fitted in such a way that it can be at will
connected with or disconnected from the middle portion of the shaft. For
instance, provide the separate end q of the shaft Q, No. 2, with a fixed coupling
box s, borne by the end of the middle portion of the shaft. When s has been
removed by the lever t, the lever u,hereafter described, in pressing upon 7,acts
as a brake, which at first slackens r and q, and finally, at the proper time,stops
them, and through them the propeller P. The end No. 1 of the lever u being
its handle, the other end No. 2 is moveable round a pin. The lever u is

page_text: provided with the spring No. 3 attached to the top. The gudgeon No. 4,
suspended to the fixed spring traverses downwards the mortise No. 5 of the
said lever u, the lower face of which is shaped concentrically to the cylindrical
surface of v. The periphery of the fixed box o presents also a mortise No. 6,
made to fit the gudgeon No. 4. While the box v is revolving, the gudgeon
No. 4 is repelled by that periphery, and bends the spring until the two
mortices No. 5 and No. 6 come in contact; the gudgeon No. 4 is instan-
taneously thrust into the mortise No. 6 by the reaction of the spring.
Motion may also be transmitted to the motive shafts of the propellers P
by the new modes of transmission mentioned in the description of the strap,
chain, and cog drum, represented in Plate II.
The characteristics of the above-described mode of transmitting motion
to the simple and stout propelling apparatus, constructed as explained, and
to any other fitted to receive motion through the said mode, are, first, that
the motion of the propeller is exactly like that of a coupling rod in loco-
motives; secondly, that all the paddies, whatever their number and height
may be, are kept in a vertical position, cutting and working constantly in the
efficient direction while in water, without having to carry up a burden of
water when re-ascending; thirdly, that the propelling area may be thus
augmented to a great extent, namely, by increasing either the size or number
of paddles, or both; fourthly, that it allows of the propelling apparatus being
adapted to the special circumstance of each kind of navigation; fifth, that
it gives every facility, naturally and immediately, to free the ship from the
incumbrance of the propellers as soon as it is desired to sail without steaming.
It is evident that the mode of transmission is quite the same, whether
the pin belongs to the cranks n and the hole for it to the propeller, as in
the above description, or whether the pin belongs to the propeller and the
hole of the pin to the crank n.
PI. II. Improvements in the mode of transmitting motion by the agency
of straps or chains or of coupling rods. The modifications and improvements
to which these modes of transmission of motion refer are illustrated in
Pl. II. by the Fig. 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 14, 15, 16, 19, and 20, relative
to straps or chains.
Fig. 15 shows a fragment of a regular thin band C of plate iron, in which
a regular set of rectangular openings of an equal size has been cut out, and
remains bordered on each side by two plain bands b, while they are separated
from each other by the remaining narrow cross bands d. A cylindrical casing a
surrounds each of the said cross bands d, which casing has been introduced
through a fissure (seen in Fig. 14), which should be turned up or down after