IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER WHEELS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ebenezer Tuttle, of Canaan, County of Somerset,
and State of Maine, United States of America, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER WHEELS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ebenezer Tuttle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
April 1866.
I, EBENEZER TUTTLE, of Canaan, County of Somerset, and State of Maine,
United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER WHEELS," to be as follows:-
The said improvements relate to horizontal water wheels, and consist chiefly
in the employment of a circular gate rotating with the wheel and provided
with flanged projections fitting between the buckets. By the raising or
lowering of the said gate and projections the working area of the buckets and
consequently the capacity of the wheel is increased or diminished according to
the degree of power required to be exerted by the said wheel. The bed plate
over which the wheel is supported is of a circular forin, and is provided with a
circular central opening. A bar secured to the under side of. the bed plate
extends across this, opening and supports a hollow inverted cone, which
extends upward within the wheel, and carries at its lower end the foot bearing
for the wheel shaft. This cone is stationary, and from its shape and inverted
position leaves but a small surface on the top of the wheel exposed to the

page_text: pressure of the water. The wheel is formed of two rims or annular plates
placed one above the other, and supporting the buckets between them in
a tangential position. The said wheel is secured to its shaft by a central boss
connected by arms to the upper of the two rims. The lower rim is wider
than the upper one, the former extending to the exterior edge of the buckets,
while the latter extends only to the bottom of the said buckets which are
provided with tops or covers. A ring or annular plate also extending out to
the exterior edge of the buckets is placed on these covers. Leakage is pre-
vented by two annular plates, one of which is attached to the lower rim of the
wheel, and fits within a flanged ring surrounding the central opening in the
bed plate, the other plate being placed upon the upper surface of the inverted
cone, and fitting within the upper rim of the wheel. Over the wheel shaft is
placed a hollow axle, to the lower end of which a cylindrical gate is attached.
The said gate surrounds and rotates with the wheel, and its lower edge is
furnished with angular horizontal plates or projections, which correspond with
and fit into the spaces between the buckets, serving the purpose of an upper
rim or flange. By means of these angular projections the water is caused to
act upon the wheel in a solid body, and the capacity of the said wheel is varied
at pleasure. The water cannot act upon the buckets above these projections,
so when little power only is required the gate is lowered, which by lowering
the angular projections reduces the working surface of the buckets, and when
greater power is needed the gate and projections are raised till the required
area of the buckets is exposed to the action of the water. The upper end of
the hollow axle is supported in a bearing carried by horizontal bars supported
upon uprights, whose lower ends are securely fixed in the circular bed plate.
One of these bars carries the fulcrum of a lever, one end of which is forked
and provided with pins fitted into a circular groove or channel turned
on the surface of the said hollow axle. By means of this lever the gate is
raised or lowered to admit more or less water to the wheel as desired. Instead
of a lever operated by hand a governor may be employed for this purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ebenezer Tuttle in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EBENEZER
TUTTLE, of Canaan, County of Somerset, and State of Maine, United States of 3
America, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Ebenezer Tuttle, Her special licence that I, the said Ebenezer Tuttle, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ebenezer
Tuttle, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WATER WHEELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Ebenezer Tuttle, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly 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 Ebenezer Tuttle, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and the accompanying Drawings, of which Figure 1 is a vertical
and central section of my Invention; Figure 2 a horizontal section of same,
taken in line x, x, Fig. 1; Figure 3 a detached top view of the wheel;
Figure 4 a detached view of an annular plate pertaining to same.
Similar
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my
Invention I will proceed to describe it.
A represents a circular bed plate, at the center of which there is a circular
opening a; B.is a bar which is attached to the under side of the bed plate
and extends centrally across the opening a. To this bar B there is attached
an inverted hollow cone B', in which at its bottom there is a point or bearing
for the wheel shaft C (see Figure 1). The wheel D is formed of two rims or
annular plates b, b', placed one above the other with the buckets c between
them. The buckets e have a tangential position relatively with the rims b, b¹,
as shown clearly in Figure 3, and the wheel is connected to its shaft by
arms d, which extend from the rim 6 to a hub e, the latter being secured on
the shaft C. The lower rim 6' of the wheel is a trifle wider than the upper
one b, the former 6' extending out to the ends of the buckets, the other rim b

page_text: not projecting over on the buckets, and the latter are consequently provided
with tops or covers e, on which an annular plate D¹ is placed, said plate
extending out to the edges of the buckets, as shown in Figure 1. On the
wheel shaft C there is placed a hollow shaft E, to the lower end of which there
is attached a cylindrical gate F, which encompasses the wheel. D. The lower
edge of the gate F has angular horizonal plates f attached, which correspond.
with and fit in the spaces between the buckets, as shown clearly in Figure 2.
The lower rim of the wheel D has a vertical flange g attached, and this
flange fits within a ring h, which surrounds the opening a in the bed plate A.
On the upper end of the cone B¹ there is placed a ring i, which fits within the
upper rim 6 of the wheel; these rings serve to prevent leakage. The cone
extends up within the wheel, as shown clearly in Figure 1. The hollow shaft E
passes through a bearing J¹ at the intersection of arms k, the outer ends of
which are secured to the tops of uprights on the circular.bed plate A. To
one of these arms k an upright is attached, having at its upper end the
fulcrum of a lever G. The inner end of the lever G is forked and provided
with pins m, which fit in a groove n in the shaft E.
The operation is as follows:-The wheel, and of course all of the within-
described parts, are fitted in a penstock, and the gate F is raised and lowered
by actuating the lever G, and more or less water admitted to the wheel as
desired. The horizontal projections f of the gate virtually vary. the capacity
of the buckets and cause the water to act upon the buckets in a solid body,
It will be seen of course that
and consequently in the most efficient manner.
the gate rotates with the wheel. The cone B¹ being stationary and not con-
nected with the wheel the latter presents but a small surface to be acted upon
by the pressure of the water above.
I am aware that the use of circular gates is old, and and this is not what I
claim; but I believe it to be new to combine the horizontal adjustable plates f with
the buckets of the wheel and the gate, in the manner herein-before described.
By this improvement the size of the wheel is changed at pleasure. The plates f
it will be observed fit into the buckets, and serve the purpose of the upper
rim or disc. The water cannot rise above the plates; so that when a small
wheel or a wheel with small buckets is wanted it is only necessary to lower
the gate and bring down the plates f, and thus reduce the working surface of
the bucket to the desired width. If it is desired to increase the size of the
wheel it is only necessary to raise the gate, and thereby elevate the plates f,
whereupon the working size of the buckets is augmented. The gate and
plates, as before stated, may be regulated by hand or by a governor.
Having thus described my Invention, I claim, the combination of the hori-

page_text: zontal adjustable plates with the buckets c and gate F of a water wheel,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ebenezer Tuttle, have heretofore set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of September, A.D. 1866.
Witnesses,
H. R. TUTTLE,
A. E. HASKELL.
EBENEZER TUTTLE. (L.s.)