IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PADDLE WHEELS FOR PROPELLING SHIPS AND OTHER NAVIGABLE VESSELS THROUGH WATER
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Hayes Carter at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th March 1871.
· I, GEORGE HAYES CARTER, of Mottingham Lodge, near Eltham,
5 in the County of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PADDLE WHEELS FOR
PROPELLING SHIPS AND OTHER NAVIGABLE VESSELS THROUGH WATER," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to paddle wheels in which the paddle boards
) or floats are caused to change their position whilst the wheel is revolving.
Morgan's feathering paddles, well known and in common use, is an
example of the above-mentioned description of paddle wheel.
b
This Invention also relates to paddle wheels known and distinguished
as reefing paddles, in which the paddles or floats can be raised out of
the water and be retained in that position whilst the vessel is being
propelled entirely by its sails.
Now the object and intention of this Invention is to simplify the
construction and lessen the cost of such said wheels, and at the same

page_text: time render them more efficient in their action and less liable to
get out of order than paddle wheels of the above kinds as heretofore
constructed.
The following is an example of the manner of constructing and
operating paddle wheels and their paddles or floats according to this
Invention, that is to say, instead of fixing the boards or floats of paddle
wheels to the arms thereof as commonly practised, or mounting the
paddles on axes as in Morgan's wheel above mentioned, I propose to
so arrange the several paddle boards or floats as that they slide up and
down the arms of the wheel; this I accomplish by connecting each of 1
the paddles by a rod to an excentric strap which embraces an excentric
plate fixed on a hollow shaft mounted on the shaft on which the paddle
wheel is fixed, so that as the paddle wheel revolves the aforesaid excentric
shall slide some of the paddles towards the centre of the "wheel and
some of them away from the centre towards the periphery of the wheel, 1
the excentric being so arranged as to force the paddles outwards to their
extreme range of action as each paddle comes under the centre of the
wheel, thus giving to each paddle thus forced out or down the greatest
depth of immersion and leverage to act upon the water to propel the
vessel; moreover as each paddle enters and leaves the water it slides or 2
cuts through the water instead of striking against and lifting it as is
now the case with paddle wheels constructed with fixed paddles.
I would here remark that instead of, employing a separate connecting
rod to each paddle- as above stated I propose to make one connecting
rod govern two paddles, by these means the centrifugal force throws one 2
paddle from the centre of the wheels, and the centripetal force towards
the centre of the wheel, thereby equalizing the weight and friction of
the sliding motion and paddle boards or floats connected therewith. To
reef the paddles, when a vessel is using sails for propelling, it is simply
necessary to so alter the action of the excentric as that it shall move 8
the paddles outwards above the centre of the wheel as it revolves,
instead of below the centre as before stated, by these means the paddle
boards that are below the centre of the wheel may be kept raised out
of the water when the vessel is sailing.