Improved Aerial Ship.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Mar., 1893-Accepted, 20th May, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Aerial Ship.
I, JOHN BRIERLEY HOWARD of Penny Bank Chambers, Halifax in the County
of York do hereby declare the nature of this invention which has been com-
municated to me by Carl Friedrich Billwiller of 10 Pestalozzistrasse, Zurich,
Switzerland Manufacturer, and in what manner the same is to be perforined, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to an improved aerial ship, which is designed to be readily
guided and controlled in its flight or travel irrespective of the direction of the
wind.
These objects are obtained by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying
drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the entire aerial ship.
Fig. 2 an end view of a propeller.
Fig. 3 shows details of construction in a somewhat larger scale.
Fig. 4 is a top view and Fig. 5 a bottom view of the aerial ship.
Fig. 6 is a view of the aerial ship as it rests upon a support before ascending.
Fig. 7 shows the construction and arrangement of the steering gear.
The main body A, B, C of the improved aërial ship is substantially of a inversed
conical form. The upper part or base of this cone is surrounded by an annular
receptacle D, the lower side vwo of which is slightly inclined (about 14°) and serves
for this reason as a parachute.
The interior of the conical main body contains a cylindrical room E, F, G, H
which is divided horizontally into four compartments, the lower one M for freight
the compartments J and L for the motor and the operative mechanism and the
compartment K for passengers. Upon the uppermost compartment L there is
arranged an additional glass building N for the steering gear. The lighting of the
compartments J, K, L and M is effected by skylights or by pipes a traversing the
main body according to requirement. The compartments are accessible by means
of hatchways made in the respective partitions. The upper surface A, B of the
main body is arranged as a deck for the stay or abode of passengers and is provided
with a suitable railing A, d¹ B. The remaining part of the main body and the
annular compartment D attached thereto are filled with gas forming thus two
separated buoyant chambers which assist in supporting the ship.
To propel the vessel the latter is provided with two groups of propellers, viz.,
two propellers P for propelling in horizontal direction and five propellers P₁ for
propelling the ship in vertical direction. The paddles or blades of these propellers
are mounted on hollow shafts the other ends of which carry bevel wheels. The
hollow shafts pass through the respective compartments and are held in position by
means of suitable bearings. The bevel wheels dd of the shafts cc gear with the
bevel wheel e and the four bevel wheels f of the shafts g gear the bevel wheels h
the bevel wheels e and h being keyed on the main shaft i, driven or rotated by any
suitable motor within the compartment J. The construction of the propellers P
and P' is as follows:-
Each propeller is composed preferably of four helicoidal blades k (Fig. 2) which
blades, except the blades of the main shaft i are movably attached to rods /
connected with the shafts c or g.
In Figure 1 the surfaces of the blades are shown diagramatically in order to
explain more clearly the whole arrangement. Supporting links m m' are connected
with the moveable blades and the rods I, the ends of which links are adapted to
slide in guides n n' of the blades. Each blade is connected by means of a rope o
running over a roller or pulley o', with a piston p sliding in a suitable bearing p¹

page_text: inside a hollow shaft (Fig. 3). The bearing is capable of being moved in a
longitudinal direction between the rails p² and adapted to revolve with the shaft,
whereas the piston does not participate in this rotary motion but slides only in a
longitudinal direction, as the other end of each piston rod p passing through the
hollow shaft is connected with the handwheels 9 and q' by means of a rope.
The two propellers P work together in the same direction, so that at the same
time the front propeller is pulling whilst the rear one is pushing. For this purpose
the supporting links m m¹ of the front propeller are arranged on the front side of
the bladesk and the ropes o running over the rollers o' are fixed to the inner side
of the blades facing to the main body of the ship, in order to give resistance to the
pressure of the wind on the rear surfaces of the blades and to enable the latter
to fold against the shaft.
On the upper side of the platform A, B and parallel to the shafts c of the
propellers P two shafts rare arranged to operate the rudder blades P2 P' (Fig. 7).
The latter are formed of large plates, for which especial rooms or casings are
provided in the annular gas room D. The steering shafts may be operated by
means of hand wheels tt (Figs. 1, 7) the rudders P' being capable of adjustment
so that according to the position given to these rudders with respect to the direction
of the aerial ship, a corresponding deviation of the ship from this direction of
course takes place.
As to the ascending of the aerial ship it is preferable to start the latter from a
supporting frame Q (Fig. 6) whereupon the ship rests so that a free revolution of
the propellers is secured.
In consequence of the centrifugal force the hinged blades & will put up themselves
automatically at right angles to the shafts so that the blades are acting exactly as
the blades of a screw propeller.
For putting out of gear one or other propeller in order to change or to adjust the
aerial ship in its flight or travel, the blades of the respective propeller are to be
folded towards the shaft by means of the handwheels q¹ or q' and the pulling
devices pppp o as shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 1. in which position the blades k
will act as blades of a screw propeller. When folding the blades together the
friction rollers of the supporting links mm² slide along between the guides an³.
As soon as the blades are released they will automatically return into their effective
position by means of the centrifugal force.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
An aerial ship consisting of an inverted conical body A, B, C, divided into
compartments for passengers, freight motor, operative mechanism and gas, of an
annular gas receptacle D surrounding the main body and forming by means of
its inclined lower surface a parachute, of propellers P, P' driven by means of a
main shaft i and having blades & capable of being folded together, and of adjustable
rudder plates P for changing and adjusting the course of the aerial ship.
Dated the 21st day of March 1893.
JOHN BRIERLEY HOWARD.