Improvements in and relating to Paddle Wheels.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 21st July, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 26th Oct., 1899-Accepted, 2nd Dec., 1899
Improvements in and relating to Paddle Wheels.
I, THOMAS HOPE, of Cherryholme, Hadleigh Road, Sproughton, near Ipswich,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to improvements in and relating to paddle wheels
and my invention consists in pivotally mounting the blades or floats of paddle
wheels and by means of suitable gearing or mechanism causing said floats to be
held in a vertical or nearly vertical position during the whole rotation of the
wheel substantially as hereinafter described, my invention further consisting in
so constructing the framing or sides of the paddle wheel that any of the floats
may be readily removed for repairs.
In carrying my invention into practice and assuming that eight floats are
to be used I make a pair of frames octagonal in shape and at about the centre of
each of the eight sides I pivotally mount a blade. The spindles which carry
the blades and which spindles are supported in suitable bearings-project
through the frame nearest the hull of the vessel and each of said spindles is
provided with a toothed wheel, and surrounding the paddle shaft I provide another
toothed wheel of the same size as the toothed wheels already referred to but this
central toothed wheel is held stationery and does not rotate with the paddle
shaft being preferably attached in any suitable manner to the hull. Between
said central and the eight outer toothed wheels I mount eight toothed wheels
gearing on one side with the wheels on the spindles of the floats and on the
other side with the stationary central wheel. By these means, when the paddle
is rotated each of the floats will be held vertical and strike and leave the water
with little loss of power. Instead of toothed wheels I may employ other suitable
mechanism to keep the floats vertical.
For the purpose of removing a float it is only necessary to take the toothed
wheel off its spindle, take the cops or equivalents off the spindle bearings
and by turning the float so as to coincide or be level with the outside of the
frame the said float may be readily slid off instead of having to be lifted off
which would be necessary if the frame were not shaped as described.
Dated this 21st day of Jul 1899

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
This invention has reference to improvements in and relating to paddle
wheels and my invention consists in the improved means for retaining the floats
or paddles in a vertical position during the rotation of the paddle wheels.
In order that my invention may be readily understood reference is made to
the accompanying drawings wherein like letters of reference indicate correspond-
ing parts throughout the several figures and in which:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a paddle wheel one method of carrying my inven-
tion into effect being shown.
Fig. 2 is a front view of Fig. 1 and―
Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show alternative methods of carrying my invention into effect.
In carrying out my invention and referring to Figs. 1 and 2 I employ say
eight floats or paddles A which are provided or formed with suitable spindles a'
which are supported in suitable bearings a which latter are fixed to octagonal side
frames or equivalents Bthe frames are octagonal because there are eight
floats.
The spindles a project a sufficient distance through their bearings a at the
side of the paddle wheel which is nearest to the vessel and each of said spindles
has keyed or otherwise fixed to it a toothed wheel C-the pitch lines only being
shown and surrounding the paddle shaft D I provide a collar or sleeve E which
carries a central toothed wheel F-which is of the same size at the wheels C-
and which collar is fixed to the side of the vessel so that the toothed wheel F
remains stationary when the paddle wheel rotates. Between the wheels C and
the central wheel F I provide a suitable number of carrier wheels G the arrange-
ment being such that as the paddle wheel rotates the floats will at all times be
held in a vertical position-assuming that they have been so set in the fitting up
of the wheels.
The advantage in employing the octagonal frame is that if a float or blade has
to be removed at the top it is only necessary to take off the wheel C and the
caps off the bearings and having turned the float into a horizontal position it can
be readily slid off.
In Fig. one alternative construction is shown. The paddle wheel illustrated
in this figure is intended as a stern wheel" in which each side of the paddle
wheel is supported. This method of supporting the wheel enables two stationary
central gear wheels to be employed one on each side so that one half of the
number of wheels C may be on one side and the other half on the other side
as will be readily understood from the drawing in which the pitch lines of the
gear wheels on the front side are shown in bold dot and dash lines and the gear
wheels on the opposite side are indicated by dotted lines. In this construction
ordinary circular plates or frames are shown said frames having slots 6 to enable
the blades or floats to be removed.
Figs. 4 and 5 show alternative methods of gearing. In Fig. 4 three chains H
are employed to keep the paddles vertical as will be readily understood by
reference to the drawing and in Fig. 5 one chain H is employed and in order
to cause said chain H to have a sufficient grip on the stationary central wheel F
I provide rollers or loose wheels h. In Figs. 4 and 5 it will be seen that all the
wheels except the central are situated at about the periphery of the frame but I
do not confine myself to any particular arrangement nor to the number of chains
employed.
If desired the gear wheels may be enclosed in a suitable casing and the bearings
and other fittings may be any found most suitable.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
.claim is:
(1) A paddle wheel in which the floats are continuously held in a vertical

page_text: or a substantially vertical position by means of gear wheels substantially s
described and illustrated.
(2) In a paddle wheel gear wheels such as C geared with a central stationary
gear wheel such as F, said gear wheel serving to keep the floats or paddles in
a vertical or substantially vertical position all for the purposes and substantially
as set forth.
Antahan 1800