IMPROVEMENTS IN TURBINICAL HYDRAULIC APPARATUS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John Gedge
and Son, 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, for the. Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TURBINICAL
HYDRAULIC APPARATUS."-A communication from abroad by Jean Larger,
Sealed the 19th February 1861, and dated the 24th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th August 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son,.
11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TURBINICAL HYDRAULIC APPARATUS," communicated to me from abroad by Jean
Larger, of Felleringen, Department of the Haute Rhin, France, Weaver and
Spinner, to be as follows:-
By this Invention it is proposed to improve the action of the directing
paddles or flat boards of the turbines, it having been found that to obtain the
best possible effect with the directing blades they must be placed so that they.
impel the water against the blades of the moveable wheel at an angle which.
approaches as nearly as possible the tangent of the circumference of the.
distributor (whether vertical or horizontal) so that, they form with the
vertical line an angle approaching as nearly as possible to a right angle. The.
blades of the moveable wheel A (see Drawing) which were primitively used
require great speed to avoid shocks. It is therefore proposed to make.
the modification shewn at B, by which a considerable diminution of

page_text: speed will be effected, and the shocks incidental to A be avoided. As regards
the sectional orifices it has been found that those of the wheel should not exceed
those of the distributor, but in the proportion of the wheel to the speed of the
water and height of fall, and a considerable advantage will be found when,
from the want of water, some of the orifices must be closed in having the
sections of the wheel smaller than in the proportions mentioned. Thus with
a fall of 6 feet, utilized by- a turbine with vertical water escapement, three-
fourths of the orifices being closed, a product is obtained nearly equal to the
quantity of water employed. Or a modification may be made which consists
in applying behind the ordinary impulse division a second division (C in the
Drawing) termed the counter eddy or backwater division, which effects a curve
trending towards the escape opening of the impelling division so as to compress
the water into the open section between the blades. The result is the obtaining
of a fourth more power in ordinary working over the system B.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, 11, Wellington Street,
Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
⚫ WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing-date the Twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did;' for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William. Edward Gedge, Her- special licence that I, the said
William Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, .or such
others as I, the said William Edward Gedge, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TUBINICAL HYDRAULIC APPARATUS," communi-
cated to me from abroad by Jean Larger, of Felleringen; Department of the
Haute Rhin, France (Weaver and Spinner), upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing -under my or their; or one of their hands

page_text: 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 William Edward Gedge, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement; reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and forming part of this my Specification, and to the figures and letters
of reference placed thereon:-
.
Figure A being a vertical section of a turbine drawn to a-scale of about
one-tenth its usual size; Figure B, the distributor; and Figure C, the wheel;
Figure D, shews directing paddles or blades of small radius; Figure E directing
paddles or blades of large radius; Figure F, paddles or blades of large radius
of wheel; Figure G, the same; and Figure N, the details of Figures F and G.
The principal improvements in this tubine consist, firstly, in the curve m, n, o,
Figure F; receiving impulsion from the water formed, as shewn at Figure G,
and hereafter explained in detail in the description of Figure N. Secondly, in
the application against m, n, o, Figure F, of the piece. z, z, o, Figure F, which
prevents the water reascending into the section z, z, o¹, n'. Thirdly, in the
form of the directing paddles or blades at their upper part, as shewn at
Figures D and E, and by the line a, b, Figure B, and also in their lower
position, as shewn by the line c, d, perpendicular. to c, e, Figure B, thereby
avoiding the conducting of part of the sheet of water against the envelope in
the direction shewn by c, e¹, and d, d, Figure B, which results when the
line c, d is directed towards the centre of the wheel. Fourthly, in the dis-
position of the upper position of the paddle or blade of the wheel indicated by
the line g, i, Figure, C, perpendicular and parallel to the line c, d, Figure B.
I will now proceed to give the description of the details of Figure N, which
are necessary to the comprehension of the other Figures. .a, a¹, directress of
the water at 15 degrees; a, b, distance from one blade to the other on small
radius; a, c, radius=a, b; a, d, diameter double that of a, c, and perpendicular
to a a; g, d, are having for radius g, a, formed by the perpendicular in the
middle of g, d, to the meeting of the line a, a, at a; e, i, h, are or segment of
circle in the middle of e, h=a, e, f,=(t of the circle described at a, d,) to the
meeting of the line l, a¹, at K; a, m, d, curve of the small side of paddle or
blade of wheel; A, M, D, curve of paddle towards the envelope described on
the diameter A, D, larger than a, d, by half the difference of the thickness of
the two sheets of water, which in the Drawing have 12 inches (37 millimètres)

page_text: on the side of the envelope and nearly one inch (23 millimètres) on the side
of the cylinder of the wheel, the difference is, therefore half an inch (12 milli-
mètres) of which one half will escape lower and the other half higher than the
side of the cylinder of the wheel.
The results obtained by these modifications in the ordinary turbines are,
firstly, a gentler and more regular march in giving to. the mean circumference
of the wheel a speed equal to half that of the water, thus diminishing and
preventing shocks to the gearing and in the movement of the machines.
Secondly, a loss of only eight per cent. of the full water power, as shewn by
the dynamometer (known as Pronys) upon a turbine of this system placed
beneath a fall of 41 feet (12 mètres 60 centimètres) receiving the water at an
angle of 12 degrees and giving an effective force of upwards of 2 tons (2,300
kilogrammes) per second from 45 gallons (200 litres) per second, as verified
by an overfall of two yards wide and a sheet of water.6 inches (14 centimètres)
high. Thirdly, a result nearly proportionate (to the quantity of water when
from want of water it is necessary to close part of the directing blades in which
case the work of one blade at most is lost, so that with twenty blades or paddles
closed and four open, will be obtained of the total work which may be got
from the turbine when all the orifices are open.
Having now, described the nature of the said Invention, I would have it
understood that while I have herein described and shewn in the Drawing the
principle of this Invention and a means of carrying it into practical effect, I do
not confine myself precisely to the details, as the combinations to. which the
principle may give rise are too numerous to be herein described or shewn in
the Drawing, and that I claim the several constructions and; combinations
herein described and shewn in the Drawing hereunto annexed, forming
"Improvements in Turbinical Hydraulic Apparatus."
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have hereunto
set my hand and-seal, this Twenty-second day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
JOHN GEDGE,
11, Wellington Street, Strand,
Patent Agent,
W. E. GEDGE. (Ls.)
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