CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRO- PELLING VESSELS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHRISTOPHER
DUNKIN HATE, of Bermondsey, in the County of Surrey, Wharfinger, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Third day of July, in the eighth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Chris-
topher Dunkin Hays, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Christopher Dunkin Hays, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Christopher Dunkin Hays,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRO-
PELLING VESSELS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said Christopher Dunkin Hays, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Christopher Dunkin Hays, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of improvements in propelling vessels consists, in the first
place, in a novel mode of transferring the motive power of the engine to the
propeller, whereby the latter may be driven at different speeds according
to circumstances, and without altering the speed of the engine; and also in an
improved mode of constructing certain of the working parts, whereby the
friction thereof is considerably reduced.
Secondly, in a novel construction of propeller, which I intend to use in
connection with my other improvements.
97
The principal object of my Invention is the application or employment of
an auxiliary steam power for propelling sailing vessels in a more economical and
advantageous manner than has hitherto been done. According to the present
mode of employing steam engines as an auxiliary power for assisting in propel-
ling sailing vessels, the engines and propellor are only brought into use
occasionally, and under certain circumstances, such as during calms and light
winds; but when favorable or strong winds prevail, the propeller and engine áre
thrown entirely out of use, and become much dead and useless weight in the
ship. Instead of following this plan, I intend to make use of the auxiliary
steam power constantly during the whole of the voyage, and under all circum-
stances that it can be of the slightest use. For this purpose I employ an
engine and propeller of such a power as will be capable of propelling a vessel un-
aided by any other power at a moderate speed, of say four knots an hour, during
calms and very light winds, and by the adaptation and employment of certain
apparatus hereafter described, and which I connect to the engine and propeller
shaft, I am enabled at all times to propel the vessel four knots per hour, or
nearly so, beyond the speed that she would go if unaided by my apparatus.
For example, suppose that the engine will, as above stated, propel the vessel
at the rate of four knots per hour in a dead calm; if a light wind, capable of
propelling her two knots per hour without other assistance should arise, then
by the additional power of an engine and propeller, with my apparatus adapted
thereto, I shall, with the two powers combined, be enabled to propel the vessel;
say about six knots per hour, and if the wind should increase so as (unaided) to
propel the vessel four knots, then by the additional power of the engine she will
proceed at the rate of about eight knots per hour, or nearly so, and so on

page_text: according to the power of the wind. The means I employ to effect this object
consists in the employment of differential gearing for communicating the power
of the engine to the propeller shaft, and whereby I can always drive the pro-
peller at an increased speed according to the speed that the vessel would be
propelled by the wind alone. In order to fully understand this point it will
be necessary to examine what would be the effect of the ordinary auxiliary
steam power upon the progress of a ship. Suppose this auxiliary power is
calculated to propel the vessel four knots per hour, unaided by any other power,
and to effect this object the propeller is obliged to make sixty revolutions per
minute: now, if a wind springs up, which, unaided, is also capable of propelling
the vessel at the samo or a greater speed than the engine is calculated for, it
follows that although the propeller may still revolve sixty times per minute,
still there is no (or at any rate very little) increased speed imparted to the ship,
and the propeller is revolving uselessly, as the passage of the ship through the
water would of itself drive the propeller at nearly the same speed if the latter
were detached from the engine. The method I adopt of making the propeller
available under these circumstances is to drive it at a speed greater than that
which the progress of the ship itself would give the propeller in its progress
through the water,-that is to say, if the speed of the ship sailing four knots
per her is such as would cause the propeller to revolve sixty times per minute
if detached from the engine, it is clear that it will be necessary for the engine
to drive the propeller an additional sixty, making one hundred and twenty
revolutions in all, in order to propel the vessel about eight knots per hour. It
will be understood that the engine is not required to exert any increased power
to obtain this increased speed, as the ship's motion drives the propeller one
sixty, and the engine the other sixty revolutions; the wind therefore, by means
of the motion of the ship through the water, assists in driving the propeller,
and the engine gives it an additional impetus. If the vessel is propelled by the
wind at the rate of six knots, a further increase, equivalent to an additional
four knots, must be made in the speed of the propeller before the full benefit is
obtained from the power of the engine.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, I have shewn the method I adopt
of carrying the Invention into effect.
Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section taken through a vessel fitted
with my improved auxiliary steam power; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.
A, A, is the boiler and furnace, and B, B, one of Beale's patent improved
rotary engines. Any other engine or motive power may be employed, but
I have shown this engine merely for the purpose of illustrating the In-
vention. C is an ordinary propeller, with any convenient number of blades

page_text: as may be considered most advisable by the engineer or constructor; c, c,
is the propeller shaft, which is supported by and turns in bearings
d, d, d, d. On the inner end of this shaft the differential gearing e, c, c, is
affixed, as seen best in the enlarged views, Figures 3, 4, and 5. Another
shaft f, f, furnished with a feather h, h, is mounted in bearings immediately
above the inner end of the propeller shaft, and also carries toothed wheels
9,9,9, of different diameters, and which wheels are mounted on and made
to slide easily along the shaft f, f; when it is required to change the speed
of the propeller, the feather h of the shaft f passes through the bosses of all
the wheels g, gg, and of course carries them round with it. The shaft
of the engine is seen at i, and carries at its end a clutch j, which, when
brought into contact with the clutch box k, on the inner end of the shaft f,
causes the latter, with its wheels g, g, g, to be carried round and drive the
propeller shaft. It will be seen, upon referring to the Drawing, that the slowest
motion is in gear, as would be the case in calms or very light winds, when it
s the whole power of the engine, rather than the speed of the propeller, that
is required; but if a breeze should spring up, then it will be necessary to
increase the speed of the propeller. To effect this the engine must be tempo-
rarily detached by loosening the clutch; the second pair of wheels must then be
put in gear, and the first put out of gear; then, upon connecting the engine
again, the speed of the propeller will be very much increased. If the breeze
should freshen still more, the engine must be again detached and the third pair
of wheels be put in gear, the others being previously put out of gear. As the
wheels g, g, g, all slide freely along the shaft, this object this easily effected by
the attendant engineer. A friction break 7 of the ordinary kind is mounted
on the propeller shaft for the purpose of preventing it from revolving while the
toothed wheels are being put in and out of gear. In place of employing stern
propellers, as shewn in the Drawing, I sometimes adapt my Invention to the
shafts of paddle wheels, as exactly the same effect may be produced therewith.
The same arrangement of differential gearing is employed, whatever may be
the peculiar construction of the propeller. I do not, therefore, think it neces-
sary to give any further explanation of the mode of adapting the Invention to
paddle-wheel shafts, especially as it may be found necessary to vary the
arrangement and position of some of the parts to suit circumstances. A variety
of other different plans might be devised of effecting the object of my Invention,
(viz., driving the propeller at different speeds, according to the speed that the
vessel advances by other means,) but the method I have shewn above I believe
to be the best, although I do not intend to confine myself thereto.
:
In Figures 6 and 6* I have shewn a means of effecting the same object by

page_text: means of cones, pullies, or drums, and which may under certain circumstances
be found useful. The speed of the propeller is regulated by moving the band
along the cones, pullies, or drums, one set of which must be mounted on or
connected to the engine shaft, and the other on the propeller shaft which passes
through the stern post of the vessel as usual when this description of propeller
is employed. The bearing in the stern post for the propeller shaft is shewn in
longitudinal and transverse section, on an enlarged scale, at Figs: 7 and 8, and
an end view thereof at Fig. 9. As the length of this bearing is greater than
that of ordinary bearings, I reduce the friction thereof by means of a number
of antifriction rollers q, q, q, which are placed around the shaft in the manner
shewn in the Figures. These rollers are all placed round the shaft, and are
allowed to revolve both on their own axes and also round the shaft itself. The
bearings are provided with proper packing, as at m, m, to prevent the water
from entering the vessel, as is well understood, at n, n.
Figs. 4 and 5 is a bearing for resisting the horizontal thrust of the propeller
shaft when in rapid rotation, and which would otherwise quickly wear away
the bearings in which the shaft is mounted. This bearing n is shewn described,
and upon an enlarged scale, at Figs. 10 and 11.
Fig. 10 is a view looking from above, and Fig. 11 a transverse vertical
section. The bearing consists of a metal box, which is firmly secured to a
stationary framing in any convenient manner; a pin o is screwed through one
side of the bearing, and bears against one end of the shaft c, c, as seen in the
Figures, and can be tightened up as circumstances may require by mercly
turning the screw head, whereby the shaft is prevented from wearing away the
sides of the other bearings. The metal box n is supplied with water until
about one-half of the end of the shaft c is immersed, as shewn in the Figure,
and then a quantity of oil is poured in, which, being the lighter fluid, always
floats at the top. A cock p is placed on one side of the box, exactly opposito
the centre of the shaft, for the purpose of ascertaining the exact level of the
two liquids. By constructing the bearing in this manner, and keeping it
properly supplied with water and oil, I am enabled thus to keep it cool, as the
water in the box will abstract the heat from the working parts, and prevent
them from getting overheated.
The second part of my Invention (viz.), improvements in the construction of
propellers, is shewn at Figs. 12 and 13. It consists in mounting any con-
venient number of perfectly straight blades at an angle round the shaft in such
a manner that the said angle may be varied according to the speed at which
the vessel is required to progress. The angle of the blades is regulated by the
ring b, which must be firmly connected either to the propeller shaft or to radial
arms which carry the propellers. In the Figures a ring b is firmly affixed to

page_text: the propeller shaft, and the radial arms & carry the blades c at one end, and
at their opposite ends are connected to an additional ring, which may be moved
round on its axis, but is retained in any given position by clamping screws.
The arms are also connected to the ring b, and are made to turn round on
that point, so that, as the ring is moved round on its axis, it either screws
in or forces out the outer ends of the said arms d, and by that means alters the
angle of the blades.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner in which the same
may be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I lay no claim to
any of the parts herein described which may have been heretofore used for
similar purposes, nor do I intend to confine myself to the precise arrangement
or construction herein shewn and described; but that which I claim as my
Invention, and therefore wish to secure by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, is,-
First, the employment of differential gearing of any description, whereby the
speed of a propeller or a propeller shaft may be increased or diminished,
according to circumstances, without altering the speed of the engine.
Secondly, I claim the adaptation or application of a number of rollers round
the propeller shaft in the bearing in the stern post, and also the mode of con-
structing the end bearing, and keeping it cool by means of water and oil, as
above shewn and described.
And, thirdly, the improved construction of propeller shewn in Figs. 12 and 13,
whereby I am enabled to vary the angle of the propeller according to the speed
of the vessel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christopher Dunkin Hays, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Second day of January, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
year of
C. D. HAYS. (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Second day of January,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Christopher Dunkin Hays came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Spe-
cification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form
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