AN IMPROVED PADDLE FOR PROPULSION ON WATER
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Barling, of Halifax, in the County of York,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PADDLE FOR PROPULSION ON WATER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Barling, at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th December
1857.
I, JOHN BARLING, of Halifax, in the County of York, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED. PADDLE FOR PROPULSION
ON WATER," to be as follows:-
The paddle is made to revolve after the manner of an ordinary paddle wheel,
but is composed of one or two arms or radii, only with a float at the end of
each. The floats are attached to their respective arms by means of axes under
the control of a parallel motion, which keeps. the floats vertical excepting
when in passing through the water they encounter an excess of forward
pressure; they then feather spontaneously, but return to the vertical position
as soon as the disturbing pressure ceases. They are prevented from passing
the perpendicular to the other side by a stop which arrests the guiding arm
of the parallel motion; for reverse action on the water, this stop is either
reversed or the guiding arm is fixed in the vertical position. The arms
carrying the floats are made capable of elongation, or they are so fitted to the

page_text: driving shaft of the engine, as that their effective radius may be lengthened or
shortened at pleasure, a corresponding adjustment being made in the parallel
motion. This radius may be still further lengthened by inverting the parallels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Barling in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BARLING, of Halifax, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Barling, Her special licence that I, the said John Barling,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Barling, 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 "AN IMPROVED PADDLE
FOR PROPULSION ON WATER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Barling, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 John Barling, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and
the letters of reference thereon, the same parts in each Figure being referred
to by similar letters (that is to say) :-
The paddle is revolving and of the vertical class, but 'differs from others of
this class, first, in being composed of not more than two arms or radii with a
float or blade at the end of each; secondly, in its method of feathering; and,
thirdly, in its power of adaptation to the changing buoyancy of a ship.by
means of the lengthening or shortening of its arms..

page_text: Fig. 1 is an elevation (partly in section) of the paddle, when the arms
which carry the floats are both in a vertical position, and in the same plane
with the bars or arms which control the motion of the floats; Fig. 2 is an
edge view of the same; Fig. 3 is an elevation shewing the paddle in a hori-
zontal position, the arms carrying the floats, and the aforesaid bars or arms
being in different planes; Fig. 4 is an elevation shewing the paddle in an
oblique position. The dotted lines indicate the paths which are pursued in
revolution by the centres x and y both relatively to each other, and to the
principal centres a and z. Fig. 5 is a horizontal elevation similar to Fig. 3,
but differing from it in this respect, that the parallels are inverted and the
floats consequently below the arms which carry them. A represents part of
an ordinary paddle-wheel shaft, projecting from the side of a vessel. On the
end of this shaft is affixed a boss B, with two hollow arms projecting in
opposite directions, and at right angles to the shaft C, C, are arms made to
slide within these. They are pierced with holes at suitable intervals, which
serve by means of cotters, pins, or bolts passing through the arms of the boss to
fix them at different distances from the paddle shaft; D, D, are the floats,
which are suspended by means of pivots or bars E, E, between the forks or
open ends of the arms C, C, so as to be capable of rotating between them;
e, e, are ribs projecting from the bars E, E, which assist in supporting the
floats; F, F, are bars or levers rigidly attached at one end to the pivots or
axes of the floats, and at the other end so jointed to the ends of the arms G, G,
as that these arms are capable of revolving about them. The two levers F, F,
must be of exactly equal length between their centres x and y, as also the
distance x, x, (Figs. 3, 4, and 5,) must be exactly equal to the distance y, Y ;
to secure this, the arms G, G, are made capable of being adjusted to different
lengths after the same manner as the paddle arms before described. .H is the
guiding arm of the parallel motion; it plays upon a pivot or axis v on the frame
outside the paddle, which pivot is placed in a line with the centre of the
paddle shaft; h is a stud on the arm H, upon which the arms G, G, revolve
when the paddle is put in motion. The distance between its centre z and the
centre v must be exactly equal to the distance x, y; K, K, are fixings on the
frame outside the paddle in which the stops 1, 2, 3, 4, slide.
If now the arm H be supposed to be fixed in the perpendicular position,
and if the paddle be made to revolve, the floats will continue vertical, and the
paddle will not differ essentially from Buchanan's, except that it consists of
two floats only, and that the arms carrying the floats are, with their parallels,
made capable of elongation; but it would be exposed to the same objection of:
tripping against the water (though in a less degree)' which has hitherto im-.

page_text: paired the efficiency of the vertical paddle. To obviate this objection, the
arm H has been introduced, by means of which the centre on which the
parallels G, G, revolve, instead of being fixed, is itself made capable of revo-
lution or part revolution about another centre. Stop 1 prevents the arm from
passing beyond the perpendicular towards the stern; this secures to the
paddle its power of impelling in the forward direction. But the arm H being
free to move in the direction opposite to this stop whenever the forward face
of the float encounters any pressure, whether from the way of the ship, the
force of a wave, or any other cause sufficient to overcome the friction and
inertia of the parts, the floats incline backwards, as shewn in Fig. 3 by dotted
lines; that is to say, they feather themselves, but return to the perpendicular
as soon as the disturbing pressure ceases, because the tendency of the
revolution of the driving shaft, and also of the action of the float in propelling,
is to press the arm H against the stop. For reverse action the arm is either
held against this stop, or the stop is withdrawn and stop 2 brought forward.
When the paddle is inverted, stops 3 and 4 are used; these stops may be
actuated in a variety of ways, which will readily suggest themselves to a
mechanic. In the inverted position of the paddle the floats will not feather
spontaneously, but their action on the water in propelling is such as to assist
the parallels C, C, and G, G, in crossing. Should any difficulty be found in
this respect, it may be surmounted by affixing bars forming an additional
parallelogram at right angles with the arms C, C, G, G, as shewn by dotted
lines in Figs. 2 and 4. This contrivance will always be required when one
float alone is used. It will be seen that in order to the complete efficiency of
the mode of feathering which has been described, it is necessary to attach the
levers F, F, to the bottom of the floats D, D, although it is not necessary to
place them contrariwise to the floats, as shewn in the Figures. They may be
turned in the same direction as the floats, in which case the parallels G, G,
will be above the arms C, C, as in Fig. 5, and the floats, as shewn by dotted
lines in the same Figure. The floats may be made to feather by simply
hingeing them to the bars or axes E, E, and on the side looking towards the
stern of the vessel, provision being made to confine their range of motion
within a certain angle. In this condition they feather readily, but are deficient
in power of backward motion.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would have it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction
and arrangement as herein set forth, neither do I limit myself to spontaneous
feathering in the use of the arm H, because that arm may be connected with

page_text: the engine, so that the engine may assist in the feathering or even perform it
alone; but believing that the principle of intermittent action will be found
superior to that of continuous action in propelling, I wish chiefly to secure an
efficient instrument of testing and bringing into operation the first-named
principle, namely, that of intermittent action, and therefore I claim,-
Firstly, the use of a paddle of the class herein named, but having not more
than two arms or radii, with a float at the end of each.
Secondly, the moveable arm H, whereby the centre on which the parallels
G, G, revolve instead of being fixed, as heretofore, is itself made capable of
revolution or part revolution about another centre.
And, thirdly, the method of adapting a paddle to the changing buoyancy of
a ship by elongating or shortening the paddle arms, as herein, described, and
illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Barling, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named John Barling, in the presence of
W TASKER, Patent Agent,
Halifax.
JOHN BARLING. (L.S.)