Improvements in Apparatus for Propelling Small Boats and the like.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Jan., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 31st Oct., 1896-Accepted, 5th Dec., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECI
TION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Propelling Small Boats and
the like.
I DAVID CHAMPION Engineer Church House of Shepperton-on-Thames
Middlesex do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The apparatus consists of a lever fulcrumed to the inside of a boat on the top
of the keel, so that it can be operated by a straight pull backward and forward as
in rowing; to this lever is attached a link connected to a crank pin, fixed on a
bevel wheel, gearing with bevel pinion, mounted on a propeller shaft, carried
through the stern of the boat and provided with a screw or propeller.
By pulling the lever backward and forward, a continuous rotation of the propeller
shaft is obtained. This shaft may be provided with a fly wheel.
31st day of January 1896
DAVID CHAMPION.
COM
Improvements in Apparatus for Propelling Small Boats and
the like.
1, DAVID CHAMPION, Engineer, of Church House, Shepperton-on-Thames, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention for improvements in apparatus for propelling small boats and the
like, has for its object to provide an improved apparatus for the manual propulsion
of boats and other small vessels in which the action of the worker shall be nearly
the same as in rowing whilst the effect produced shall be considerably more and
consists of a vertical lever pivoted to the keel of the boat so that it can be operated
in a longitudinal direction, a handle pivoted to the lever, a connected rod pivoted
to the lever by a horizontal pin and having a horizontal joint near the end and to a
vertical crank pin and having a vertical joint near the crank pin, a horizontal
toothed wheel having teeth on its under surface and carrying the vertical crank pin
on its upper surface and mounted in suitable bearings, a pinion gearing into the
teeth of the toothed wheel, a propeller, and a shaft mounted in suitable bearings
and carrying the pinion and propeller. This shaft may also be provided with a
toothed wheel.
In the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one way of carrying this invention into practical effect
and Fig. 2 is a plan of the same.
The lever a is pivoted at b to a platef fixed to the keel of the boat and is free to
move backwards and forwards longitudinally of the boat. The handle c is pivoted
to the lever a at d so that it is free to move in a vertical plane. Several holes e
Price 87

page_text: are provided in the end of the handle and of the vertical lever to allow the position
of the handle to be adjusted. The connected rod g is pivoted to the vertical crank
pin and to the lever a by the horizontal pin i. The connecting rod is provided
with a horizontal joint land vertical joint m and is thus free to follow the
movements of the crank pin h and of the lever a. The horizontal toothed wheel n
is fixed on the vertical shaft o mounted in the bearings pp', the lower bearing p
being formed in the base platef and the upper pl in a casting g secured to the sides
of a casing enclosing the mechanism. The propeller shaft mounted in suitable
bearings s fixed to the base plate is provided with a fly wheel t and with a pinion
engaging with the toothed wheel n. The whole apparatus with the exception of
the upper end of the lever and the operating handle is enclosed in a suitable casing
having a removable cover.
In using the apparatus, the operator sits either fore or aft of the lever a, the
handle c being readily fixed in either direction, and pulls it backwards and
forwards as in rowing and through the mechanism described operates the screw
propeller to drive the boat.
If desired handles can be fixed both fore and aft of the lever a so that two
operators can work at the same time. As shown the gearing n
eight to one but any other suitable proportions may be used.
pinion may be replaced by bevel gearing.
is in the ratio of
The wheels n and
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A manual boat propelling apparatus consisting of a vertical lever pivoted to
the keel of the boat, a handle pivoted to the lever, a jointed connecting rod pivoted
to the lever and to a crank pin and a gearing operated by the crank pin and
operating the propeller.
2. The improvements in apparatus for propelling small boats and the like,
substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
Dated this 31st day of October 1896.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.