IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR PROPELLING SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS AFLOAT
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Boddy and John Robert Pickering,
both of Leeds, in the County of York, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR PROPELLING
SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS AFLOAT."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Boddy
and John Robert Pickering at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 2nd December 1872.
We, JOHN HENRY BODDY and JOHN ROBERT PICKERING, both of
Leeds, in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
FOR PROPELLING SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS AFLOAT," to be as follows:-
For this purpose we provide an apparatus of a similar construction
to the "Giffard injector;" this we supply with steam from a boiler or
boilers provided for the purpose, the water supply is conducted to the
injector by means of a tube which is passed through the outer shell of the
vessel. The steam passing through the ejector creates a sucking action,

page_text: draws the water in, and carries the water with it at an increased
velocity, as is the case with the "Giffard injector," and ejects it below
the water line; this ejected water coming in contact with the exterior
water meets with resistance, by which resistance motion is given to the
vessel.
Any required numbers of ejectors may be employed either at the stern,
head, or other parts of the vessel, whereby the vessel may be propelled
either backwars or forwards as may be required. If for instance water
is ejected at the starboard quarter, chiefly or wholly, the vessel is turned
in the opposite direction, and vice versa.
By the employment of the herein-described apparatus the vessel may
also be steered in any required direction.
By this arrangement the great outlay which has hitherto taken place
in providing means for propelling vessels is to a considerable degree
lessened, and also the quantity of room reduced by the application of the
herein-described ejecting apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Boddy and John Robert Pickering
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
HENRY BODDY and JOHN ROBERT PICKERING, both of Leeds, in the
County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said John Henry Boddy and John Robert
Pickering, Her special licence that we, the said John Henry Boddy.
and John Robert Pickering, our executors, administrators, and assigns,:
or such others as we, the said John Henry Boddy and John Robert
Pickering, our 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

page_text: Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR
PROPELLING SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS AFLOAT," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said John Henry Boddy and John Robert
Pickering, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, 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 John Henry Boddy, on behalf of
myself and of the said John Robert Pickering, do hereby declare the
nature of our said 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 relates to improvements in the means or apparatus.
for propelling ships or other vessels afloat, and consists in the use and
manufacture of one or more apparatus of a construction similar to
Giffard's injector, which we place in a convenient part of the ship or
vessel.
In the accompanying Drawings Sheet 1 shews the details of the
apparatus; Figures 1 and 2 shew the elevation and the plan of the pro-
pelling apparatus, which may be worked so as to steer the vessel at the
same time, by merely opening or closing the steam valves B, and B, as
may be required. A is the wheel on deck which may be used for this
purpose and also for stopping the vessel; C, and C, are the ejectors;
D shews the feed water pipes; E₁ and E, the reversing valves; F is the
reversing wheel on deck; G₁ and G, the propelling pipes; H, and H, are
the reversing pipes.
To propel the ship or vessel ahead the wheel A is turned so as to open
the steam valves B, and B., by means of which the steam is allowed to
issue into the ejectors C₁ and C., and discharges water through the
pipes G, and G, with a sufficient velocity and volume to propel the ship
or vessel.
To reverse the ship or vessel the wheel on deck F is turned, which
opens the valves E, and E, so that the water is discharged through the

page_text: 1
pipes H, and H, instead of through the pipes G, and G. Figures 3
and 4 shew the elevation and section of plan of the apparatus when
required to be used as a propeller and steering apparatus combined;
F is the reversing wheel; G₁ and G, the propelling pipes; H₁ and H, the
reversing pipes; C, the ejector; J, the steam pipe.
To steer the ship or vessel steam is allowed to issue into the ejector C,
and when the valve B is full open, i.e., in mid position, water is dis-
charged through the pipes G, and G, with equal velocity, and it will
thus be seen that by merely opening or closing the valve B so as to
allow the water to be ejected with a greater or less velocity from one
pipe than the other the vessel may be steered. These ejectors may be
placed at any suitable angle and in any part of the ship or vessel, and
any number may be used as the particular class of vessel may require.
Sheet 2 shews the plan and elevation of the apparatus and the manner
in which it may be placed in a ship.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same may be conveniently carried into effect, we would
have it understood that we do not confine or limit ourselves to the
precise forms or details shewn and described, but what we claim is,
apparatus for propelling and steering ships and vessels by the use or
employment of cylinders containing cones on the principle of Giffard's
injectors.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Boddy, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of April, One thou-
sand eight hundred and seventy-three.
JOHN HENRY BODDY. (L.S.)