Improvements in the Hydraulic Propulsion of Ships.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 2nd May, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 2nd May, 1899-Accepted, 2nd June, 1899
Improvements in the Hydraulic Propulsion of Ships.
I, GEORGES TABOURIN, of No, 21, Boulevard du Béguinage, Ghent, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:―
This invention relates to the propulsion of ships and has for its object a new
mode of application of the propulsive power produced by a succession of hydraulic
percussions obtained by the intermittent action of water under pressure upon
the relatively still water surrounding the vessel.
This invention consists essentially in arranging longitudinally in the ship,
below the water line, pipes each of which is at one end open at the stern or
the stem of the vessel and at the other end is immersed in water contained in
reservoirs supplied by pumps and kept under a determined pressure, the ends last
referred to being provided with a system of intermittently acting closing devices
hereinafter termed obturators by means of which the pipes are alternately opened
to permit of water under pressure entering them and closed to permit of water
in a state of relative rest entering them.
The pipes are provided at many points of their length with openings furnished
with inwardly opening valves to admit water from outside during the periods of
closure of the obturators.
The arrangement is such that at each opening of the obturators, the water
under pressure in entering the pipes strikes against the column of water contained
in them and the reaction of the percussion thus produced so acts on the vessel
itself as to communicate to it an advancing movement in the direction opposite
to that in which the water under pressure is forced.
At each closure of the obturators the void produced by the flow of the column
of water in the pipes causes the valves to open admitting water in a state of
relative rest.
. According as the water under pressure is caused to act in the pipes at the
stern or in the pipes at the stem the vessel is caused to move either forward or
backward.
In order that my invention may be properly understood I will describe it
with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one application
thereof.
In the said drawings, Figures 1, 2 and 3 represent respectively in side elevation,

page_text: in transverse section and in plan an installation of apparatus arranged according
to my invention.
Figures 4 and 5 are respectively a longitudinal section and a transverse section
of the obturators or intermittently acting closing apparatus represented in
Figures 1, 2 and 3.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the said
figures.
a a are the water reservoirs in which are located the ends of the stern
pipes band of the stem pipes cc to which are applied the obturators d d.
ee are pumps, actuated by suitable motors and which supply the reservoirs a.
ff are the valves through which the outer water in a state of comparative
rest enters the pipes b and c during the time the obturators are in their closing
position.
g represents the boiler which supplies the motive power."
is an operating lever by the aid of which the obturators of the stem pipes or
those of the stern pipes can be set in motion according to the direction to be
given to the vessel.
i is an air cushion at the top of the columns of the reservoirs a.
Each of the obturators consist of a cylinder, d, forming a prolongation of the
pipe to which it is fixed and is closed at the opposite end. This cylinder is
pierced with longitudinal openings or slots which give it the form of a kind
of circular grid and it is surrounded by a sleeve / pierced with corresponding
openings or slots mto which sleeve a rotary movement upon the cylinder d can
be communicated.
The two frictional surfaces which may be conical are turned to fit accurately
one on the other so that there may be as tight a joint between them as possible.
The rotation of the sleeve is effected by a pinion n which is actuated by any
suitable means and gears with a toothed rim o formed on one of the edges of the
sleeve. The shaft which carries the pinions n is connected to an operating
lever h by means of which it can be thrown into and out of gear at will.
The valves f fitted to the pipes q which connect the pipes b and c with the
exterior of the hull of the vessel may be of any kind suitable for admitting
the outer water to the tubes b and c as soon as a void has been produced in
them.
The apparatus works as follows::
The reservoirs a being filled with water which is maintained under pressure
by the pumps e, and the pipes b and c being filled by the outer water which
freely enters them through the open ends of the said pipes, the lever h is actuated
so as to set in motion the sleeves 7 of the stern pipes 6 or of the stem pipes c,
according as the vessel is desired to go forward or backward.
These sleeves in turning produce alternately the opening and closing of the
slots of the cylinders d according as the slots in the sleeves coincide with the
said slots or with the intermediate parts of the said cylinders. Each time
the opening takes place the water under pressure which surrounds the sleeves
enters the pipes bor is violently forced against the water at rest therein,
producing a percussion the reaction of which acts upon the bottom of the
cylinders and communicates to the whole vessel a forward movement in the
direction opposite to that of the flow of the water in the pipes.
After each closure, the rapid flow of the water in the pipes produces therein
a void which causes the opening of the valves f and the inflow of the outer
water which re-establishes in the said pipes a column of water relatively at
rest against which the water under pressure will strike when the next opening
of the obturators takes place.
By a combination of movement of the port and starboard obturators, turning
of the vessel may be effected without use of the rudder.
I do not limit my invention to the general arrangement herein before described
and illustrated “in the accompanying drawings of the different elements of my

page_text: system of propulsion, nor to a special arrangement of intermittently acting
obturators.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
First: A mode of propulsion of ships by hydraulic power characterised by
pipes each opening at one end outside the stern or the stem of the ship the
other end being located in a reservoir containing water under pressure and
being provided with an apparatus causing alternate opening and closure, and
the said pipes being connected to the exterior of the hull by conduits furnished
with valves through which the outer water enters the said pipes as soon as a void
is produced therein, substantially as hereinbefore described and for the purpose
specified.
Secondly-In an arrangement of the kind defined in the first claim an
apparatus serving to produce the opening and the closure of the pipes, character-
ised by a cylinder closed at one end and forming the extremity of the pipe and
pierced with longitudinal slots surrounded by a sleeve pierced with corresponding
slots and means for communicating to the said sleeve a rotary movement upon
the said cylinder substantially as herein before described and illustrated in
Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings, for the purpose specified.
Thirdly: An arrangement of apparatus for the hydraulic propulsion of ships
constructed, arranged and acting as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
1000