AN IMPROVED COMBINED BOAT AND CARRIAGE, DESIGNED FOR USE ON EITHER LAND OR WATER. AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Wiliam Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. S, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention
of AN IMPROVED COMBINED BOAT AND CARRIAGE, DESIGNED FOR USE ON
EITHER LAND OR WATER. AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH." _A
communication from abroad by Francois de Amezaga, of Paris, in
the Empire of France, ex-Captain of the Italian Navy.
Scaled the 18th June 1869, and dated the 24th December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his l'etition,
on the 24th December 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED COMBINED BOAT AND CARRIAGE DESIGNED
FOR USE ON EITHER LAND OR WATER, AND. IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE
WITH, a communication, to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the construction of a combined boat and

page_text: carriage which will travel as well upon water as upon land, and can be
made to serve either simply as a boat or a carriage. The combination
is so effected as to offer the following advantages;--First, extreme
rapidity of sailing; second, impossibility of submersion and third,
facility of being taken ashore and adapted for travelling on land.
These advantages arise from the construction of the boat, which I will
now describe :-
The said boat has a flat bottom which is double as far as above the
water line. Between the two bottoms, which are very slight or thin, and
which are made of sheet metal or wood, is placed a thick bed or layer
of cork which renders the boat buoyant. In the fore part of the boat is
arranged a driving shaft, which is supported upon the hull by two
bearings, and which carries at its centre a crank. On the extremities
of the said shaft outside the hull are placed two large wheels which
become driving wheels when the boat is on land. The said shaft may
also be provided with paddle wheels. A connecting rod is attached
to the crank, the other end of the said connecting rod being jointed to a
rod which rests on rails supported on small columns or standards.
Small rollers attached to this rod at suitable distances apart permit the
same to work without friction on the rails. Bars are passed transversely
through rings above the said rollers, which bars serve as handles
whereby persons sitting in the boat can impart a reciprocating motion
to the rod, and thereby turn the driving shaft. In small craft and in
simple carriages the motive power may be applied by means of a lever
formed with a slot or mortise through which the crank of the driving
shaft passes, and which forms a frame for communicating motion
to the said shaft. For this purpose the said lever is hinged or jointed at
one end near the shaft while its other end is connected to a treadle. If
necessary I may employ a number of these levers, which, however, can
only be made effective by the action of my system of eccentrics herein-
after explained. Upon the shaft are fixed two bevel wheels furnished
with an eccentric, which wheels transmit the motion through bevel
pinions to two screw shafts and screws. Along the interior of the vessel
are arranged seats for the passengers. The helm is controlled by a
wheel in the ordinary manner. Upon the rudder post and near its
extremity is a horizontal shaft, whose length is greater than the width
of the boat, and which carries at its ends two rolling wheels which
when the boat is on land serve to maintain its equilibrium and also
allow it to be guided by the helm. The deck is opened or closed at

page_text: pleasure by slides which work in grooves. At the water line all around
the boat is fixed a roll or tube of india-rubber whose force is pro-
portioned to the size of the boat, and which is intended to prevent the
pitching and rolling of the boat, and serves at the same time as a buoy.
As near as possible to the main wheels at the fore part of the boat and
below the water line projecting shutters of sheet iron or other material
are hinged to the hull, the said shutters having a length and width
proportioned to the boat. If it is desired that they should be so wide as
to descend below the keel they are formed of several pieces, which may
be folded lengthwise on hinges in such a manner that they may be
opened and closed and fixed by any suitable means. The said shutters
may be operated by a chain attached to their extremity, and passed
over a pulley at the bottom of the hull whence it passes through an
aperture to an interior drum, around which it is coiled by means of a
crank or handle. These adjustable shutters when open serve as a
means for taking advantage of a favorable current, and in the contrary
The said
case they are adjusted to lie close to the sides of the boat.
boat may be used as a tug for a number of rafts or flat-bottomed boats
which may be provided with wheels, and which may be used for salvage
of life or property, for unloading vessels, and for conveyance on shore.
At fishing stations or ports it may be used in connection with fishing
boats, the crew of such boats furnishing the motive power and having
no reason to fear being caught in a tempest.
I have herein-before stated that I could transmit the motion to the
driving shaft by means of a number of levers which will not act except
in connection with my system of eccentrics. This system of eccentrics
or eccentric fly wheel, which is weighted on one side of its periphery
to give it a centre of gravity, may be said to be a motive power
derived from gravity by the aid of an auxiliary motor. The first
impulse being exerted upon the lever to overcome the resistance of the
dead points the fly wheel by its own weight runs the rest of its course.
By this means I am enabled to economize the power exerted on the
lever during a great part of the work. Instead of controlling the shaft
by a lever or number of levers I can fix a cylinder in the boat, in
which cylinder shall turn a wheel with blades or vanes fixed on a
suitable axis. Steam will be admitted into this cylinder at the top and
bottom in such a manner that the vanes by their movement will over-
come the resistance at the dead points, so that the impulse once given
the eccentric fly wheel will travel the rest of its course by its own

page_text: weight, thus permitting the economization of the steam. By my method
of construction I triple the force of the steam as the power is exerted
at the extremity of a lever (the arm of the fly wheel) instead of at the
centre. This method of construction is also more simple and is much
less expensive than those hitherto employed.
When my improved boat is to be employed as a carriage simply, and
is to be propelled by steam, the wheel with the blades or vanes is con-
structed in two parts forming only one wheel, but so divided that one-
half of the vanes are presented in one direction and the other half in
the opposite direction, so that if when steam is acting on one half of
the vanes an insurmountable obstacle is encountered the motion may be
reversed by the introduction of the steam to the other vanes. At each
stoppage the cylinder will cool and a slight condensation will take
place. It will then only be necessary to open a blow-off cock placed at
the lower part of the cylinder. To prevent sudden shocks in starting
the eccentric is provided with a ratchet and pawl arranged in such a
manner that its centre of gravity is always in a position of unstable
equilibrium.
I may construct my improved carriage boat for seas, rivers, and roads,
and of any required dimensions, forms, and materials, and my system
may be adapted to all kinds of machinery or structures driven by any
suitable motive power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake,

page_text: Her special licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Robert Lake, 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 law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMBINED BOAT AND CARRIAGE, DESIGNED
FOR USE ON EITHER LAND OR WATER. AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said
William Robert Lake, my executors or administrators, by an in-
strument 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 William Robert Lake, 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 accom-
panying Drawing forming a part of this Specification :---
My Invention relates to the construction of a combined boat and
carriage which will travel as well upon water as upon land, and can be
made to serve separately either as a boat or as a carriage. The com-
bination is so effected as to offer the following advantages:--First,
extreme rapidity of movement; second, impossibility of submersion; and
third, facility of being taken ashore and adapted for travelling on land.
These advantages arise from the arrangement and construction of my
Invention, which I will now describe.
The boat has a flat bottom which is double as far as above the water
line. Between the two bottoms, which are very slight or thin, and which
are made of sheet metal or wood, is placed a thick bed or layer of cork
which renders the boat buoyant: In the fore part of the boat is arranged
a driving shaft, which is supported upon the hull by two bearings, and
which carries at its centre a crank. On the extremities of the said shaft
outside the hull are placed two large wheels which serve as driving
wheels when the boat is on land. The said shaft may also be provided

page_text: with paddle wheels. A connecting rod is attached to the crank, the
other end of the said connecting rod being jointed to a horizontal rod
which rests on rails supported on small columns or standards. Small
rollers attached to this rod at suitable distances apart permit the same
to work without friction on the rails. Above these rollers and through
rings or eyes are passed transverse bars which serve as handles, whereby
the sailors sitting on seats provided for them can impart a recipro-
cating motion to the horizontal rod and thereby turn the driving shaft.
In small craft and in simple carriages the motive power may be applied
by means of a lever formed with a slot or mortise through which the
crank for driving shaft passes, and which forms a frame for com-
municating motion to the said shaft. For this purpose the said lever
is hinged or jointed at the end nearest to the shaft, while its other end
is connected to a treadle. If necessary I may employ a number of these
levers, which, however, can only be made effective by the action of my
eccentric arrangement herein-after explained. Upon the shaft are fixed
two bevel wheels provided with an eccentric, which wheels transmit
the motion through bevel pinions to two screw shafts and screws. Along
the interior of the vessel are arranged seats for the passengers. The
helm is controlled by a wheel in the ordinary manner.
Upon the rudder
post and near its extremity is a horizontal shaft whose length is greater
than the width of the boat, and which carries at its ends two rolling
wheels, which when the boat is on land serves to maintain its equilibrium
and also allow it to be guided by the helm. The deck is opened or
closed at pleasure by means of flat pieces which slide in grooves. At the
water line all around the boat is fixed a roll tube or flange of india-
rubber, whose strength is proportioned to the size of the boat, and which
is intended to prevent the pitching and rolling of the boat, and serves
at the same time as a buoy. As near as possible to the main wheels at
the fore part of the boat and below the water line, projecting shutters,
outriggers, or flaps of sheet iron or other material are hinged to the
hull, the said shutters or flaps having a length and width proportioned
to the boat. If it is desired that they should be so wide as to descend
below the keel they are formed of several pieces, which may be folded
lengthwise on hinges in such a manner that they may be opened and
closed and fixed by any suitable means. The said flaps may be
operated by a chain attached to their extremity, and passed over a pulley
at the bottom of the hull, whence it passes through an aperture to an
interior drum around which it is coiled by means of a crank or handle,

page_text: These adjustable flaps when open serve as a means for taking advantage
of a favourable current, and in the contrary case they are adjusted to
lie close to the sides of the boat. The said boat may be used as a tug
for a number of rafts or flat bottomed boats which may be provided with
wheels, and which may be used for salvage of live or property, for un-
loading vessels, and for conveyance on shore. At fishing stations or
ports it may be used in connection with fishing boats, the crew of such
boats furnishing the motive power and having no reason to fear being
caught in a tempest.
I have herein-before stated that I could transmit the motion to the
driving shaft by means of a number of levers which will not act except
in connection with my excentric system or arrangement. This excentric
system, which may be called an excentric fly wheel, because the wheel
has on one side of its periphery a weight which constitutes a centre of
gravity, may be said to be a motive power derived from gravitation by
the aid of an auxilliary motor; the first impulse being exerted upon the
lever to overcome the resistance of the dead points, the fly wheel by its
own weight runs the rest of its course. By this means I am enabled to
economize the power exerted on the lever during a great part of the work.
Instead of controlling the shaft by a lever or number of levers, I can
fix a cylinder in the boat, in which cylinder shall turn a wheel with
blades or vanes fixed on a suitable axis. Steam will be admitted into
this cylinder at the top and bottom in such a manner that the vanes by
their movement will overcome the resistance at the dead points, so that
the impulse once given the excentric fly wheel will travel the rest of its
course by its own weight, thus permitting the economization of the
steam. By my method of construction I triple the force of the steam
as the power is exerted at the extremity of a lever (the arm of the fly
wheel) instead of at the centre. This method of construction is also
more simple and is much less expensive than those hitherto employed.
When my improved boat is to be employed as a carriage simply, and
is to be propelled by steam, the wheel with the blades or vanes is con-
structed in two parts forming only one wheel, but so divided that one
half of the vanes are presented in one direction and the other half in
the opposite direction, so that if when steam is acting on one half of
the vanes an insurmountable obstacle is encountered the motion may
be reversed by the introduction of the steam to the other vanes.
each stoppage the cylinder will cool and a slight condensation will take
At

page_text: prace. It will then only be necessary to open a blow-off cock placed at
the lower part of the cylinder. To prevent sudden shocks in starting
the excentric is provided with a ratchet and pawl arranged in such a
manner that its centre of gravity is always in a position of unstable
equilibrium.
Ι may construct my improved carriage boat for seas, rivers, and
roads, and of any required dimensions, forms, and materials, and my
system may be adapted to any kind of machinery or structure driven by
any suitable motive power.
In order that my Invention may be more fully understood, I have
illustrated the same in the accompanying Drawing.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a horizontal plan of a combined boat and carriage, con-
structed according to the said Invention. A is the hull of the vessel;
B is the driving shaft; C is the crank; D is the connecting rod; E, the
rod moving horizontally, and F rings or straps upon the said rod; Gare
the transverse bars; H, the railway; I, seats for the sailors; J, J, arc
bevel wheels weighted excentrically, and K., K, bevel pinions; L, L,
are screw shafts; M, M, are wheels fixed on the driving shaft; N, N,
are seats for the passengers; O, O, deck provided with flat sliding pieces;
P is the steering wheel, and Q, the rudder; R is the shaft fixed at the
foot of the rudder bar; S, S, are the loose wheels thereon; T, T, are
the flaps or outriggers at the sides of the vessel; U, U, are the joints
or hinges of the said flaps, and V, V, are the chains; X is a bell.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the said combined boat and carriage.
Y, Y, are the screw propellers; Z is the buoy surrounding the boat; a
is a pulley; b is a continuation of the chain V (see Figure 1); c is an
aperture for the passage of the chain V.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section. is the drum or roller for winding
and unwinding the chain V; e is the excentric weight on the bevel
wheel; f., are the rollers, and g, g, are the standards supporting the
railway.
Figure 4 is a detached view illustrating the method of governing the
driving shaft by a lever. h is the crank of the driving shaft; i is the
joint or fulcrum; j is the lever;,, indicate the slot or mortise; m,
the pedal, and the connecting rod,

page_text: Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shewn how the same may be con-
veniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,--
First. The combined boat and carriage, substantially as above described
and represented, provided with the vehicular wheels and paddle wheels
so that it can be propelled on either land or water.
Second. The excentric or excentric fly wheel for the purpose of pro-
ducing the effect of a motor by the employment of an auxilliary force,
or in other words to act as an assistant motor.
Third. The application of my Invention to the purposes of locomotion
upon seas, canals, rivers, and roads.
Fourth. The application of my Invention in combination with any
suitable apparatus or structure and means for driving the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.s)