IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER WHEELS FOR RUNNING STREAMS
Year: 1884

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I FREDERICK CARRE of Inver Glebe, Donegal, in the County of Donegal
Ireland do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WATER WHEELS FOR RUNNING STREAMS" and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
+
This Invention relates to improvements in the class of motors technically called
current wheels which are as the name implies a kind of water wheel for utilizing
the power of swift running water as in rivers and streams and the object of my
improvement is to provide a motor which may easily be moved from place to place
and anchored in any suitable part of the stream and which will obtain from a
given stream a larger per centage of power than can be obtained by any existing
current wheel. Hitherto the construction of current wheels has been practically
the same as that of ordinary undershot wheels in which a series of horizontally
placed buckets are rigidly placed in a circle around the circumference of a wheel
with a horizontal shaft and parallel to it. In such wheels it is obvious that the
exposure of each of the buckets to the action of the water is of very short duration
and that the tangential or greatest working direction of the water on the buckets
is only instantaneous or at the point vertically under the axis of the wheel, and
further that in consequence of the small number of buckets that can be submerged
at one time a large proportion of the available power of the water is lost. These
defects are to a great extent overcome and obviated by this Invention which
furthermore presents the advantage of being applicable equally to large and deep.
rivers and to shallow stream's by the use of suitable pontoons or floats in
combination with the water wheel.
In order to enable the Invention to be fully understood I will describe the same
by reference to the accompanying Drawing in which Figure 1, is a longitudinal
section; Figure 2, an end view and Figure 3 a plan of a current wheel constructed
according to this Invention.
Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several Ficurez
._ J

page_text: A A represent two pontoon floats of suitable size and shape for supporting a
portion of the motor and if necessary the machinery to be operated by it. B B
are two tie beams by which the pontoons are connected and held at the proper
distance apart. CC are shafts supported in bearings on the pontoons; on these
shafts are keyed or otherwise securely fixed the discs D D over which run the
endless cables E E. To these cables at regular distances are riveted or otherwise
suitably secured fixed blocks a, in which the ends of the rods b, are held. F F are
the buckets or floats which may be made plain or curved as preferred and should
be of such a length as will allow them to pass easily between the discs D and of a
breadth suited to the work they have to perform. They are provided on their
ends with flanges c, by which they are suspended from the rods b, which pass
loosely through the said flanges. The kind of cable best suited for this purpose
would vary according to circumstances but for general effectiveness I prefer a
"pitch chain" as shewn in the Drawing to suit which sprockets d, are cast on the
circumference of the wheels or discs so as to take into the links of the chain and
thus prevent the possibility of the chain slipping. When a rope or round chain is
employed the discs may be grooved in a similar manner to sheave pulleys to keep
the chain in place. If preferred the rods b, may be dispensed with and in place
thereof outwardly turned journals may be formed on or attached to the flanges c;.
the said journals e project into and are supported in the bearings formed in the
blocks a. When the wheels are in operation the buckets or floats which are
returning to the head or up stream end of the machine are carried edgeways
through the air so that there is not even the resistance of the wind to contend
against but immediately the buckets or floats completely enter the water they are
thrown into a vertical position and are, so balanced that they will be maintained in
that position so long as they are in the water thus receiving on their surfaces the
full effect of the current. It will be seen, that the advantage of my Invention over
current wheels at present in use for the same purpose results from the number of
buckets or floats which by my improvements receive impulse from the stream at
the same time, and therefore that the power of the current wheel may be increased
by increasing the distance between the two pairs of discs D, and placing more
buckets or floats Fon the chain, or by increasing the length or breadth of the
buckets or floats F. The diameter. of the discs D should be such that the axles
shall be perfectly clear of the water and the upper edge of the buckets when
working in the water should be below the level of the bottom of the pontoons.
The power derived from the operation of these wheels may be communicated to
other machinery by means of shafting, wire rope or by other suitable means.
By employing steam power for operating one or both of the shafts C, this
improved machine may be made to form a very effective means for propelling
vessels on canals or rivers the action of the machine resembling the continuous
stroke of oars; by its employment for this purpose very little wash is occasioned
on the banks which is important in the case of canals and owing to the great
amount of resistance to the water the velocity of the wheels need not be 'so great
as in ordinary paddle wheels.
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:-
1. The combination of a water wheel with pontoons or floats for supporting the
said wheel in a running stream so that by means thereof the effect of running
water may be utilized for operating machinery substantially as described.
2. In a current wheel the buckets F, attached to the endless cable E, passing
over the discs D D, which are arranged one behind the other in the direction of
the stream and in the same vertical plane substantially as bereinbefore described
and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
- it
3. In a current wheel the combination of the pontoons A. and beams B with the
shaft C journalled in bearings in the said pontoons and the discs D D fixed on the

page_text: said shafts and carrying the cables E which have the buckets or floats F suspended
from them substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing.
4. The application of the improved machine for the purpose of propelling vessels
on canals or rivers substantially in the manner hereinbefore described.
G. F. REDFERN,
4, South Street, Finsbury,
Agent for the Applicant.