THE APPLI- CATION AND UTILIZATION OF THE CENTRIFUGAL FORCE PRODUCED BY THE ROTATION OF A STEAM SHIP'S SCREW OR PROPELLER FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXHAUSTING THE CONDENSER, WHEREBY PUMPS AND OTHER APPARATUS ARE AVOIDED
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Philpot, of 21, Great Knight Rider
Street, Doctors Commons, E.C., for the Invention of "THE APPLI-
CATION AND UTILIZATION OF THE CENTRIFUGAL FORCE PRODUCED BY THE
ROTATION OF A STEAM SHIP'S SCREW OR PROPELLER FOR THE PURPOSE OF
EXHAUSTING THE CONDENSER, WHEREBY PUMPS AND OTHER APPARATUS ARE
AVOIDED."
."_A communication from abroad by John Lucovich, of
Trieste, in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 15th September 1871, and dated the 7th July 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Philpot at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th July 1871.
I, HENRY PHILРот, of 21, Great Knight Rider Street, Doctors
Commons, E.C., do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"THE APPLICATION AND UTILIZATION OF THE CENTRIFUGAL FORCE PRODUCED BY
THE ROTATION OF A STEAM SHIP'S SCREW OR PROPELLER FOR THE PURPOSE OFf
EXHAUSTING THE CONDENSER, WHEREBY PUMPS AND OTHER APPARATUS ARE
AVOIDED," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the application and utilisation of
the centrifugal force which is produced by the rotation of a steam
ship's screw or propeller. The Invention utilises this force by applying

page_text: it to the purpose of exhausting the condenser in steam vessels, and
thus renders altogether unnecessary the pumps and other apparatus in
present use.
The Invention also includes all the mechanical appliances and special
means by which this utilisation of the centrifugal force developed by
the screw is effected. Among these are the peculiar construction of the
screw itself, the shaft, and the manner in which their connection and
attachment to the condenser is accomplished. This is so arranged
that the screw or propeller practically performs all the functions of
the ordinary air pump, and in addition tends to simplify the general
machinery.
A reference to the Drawings will shew at once how the proposed
utilisation and application of the force is carried out.
In Drawing I. the letters A, A, represent the shaft of the vessel's
propeller; B, B, show the stern tube, which is of the usual form and
construction; and C, C, indicate the screw or propeller itself.. To the
ordinary box of the propeller are attached a chamber, shown by the
letters a, a.
Inside the tube are water channels b, b, which rotate
with the shaft and connect the chamber a, a, with the space r, r.
This spacer, r, is of the usual size and form, and is filled with water
when the machinery is in working order. In connection with the
chamber a, a, there are tubes or channels c, c.
These are cast upon
the non-acting surface of the propeller blades, and act as the medium
by which the water is exhausted from the chamber a, a. Drawing 1
represents a plan and a section of the details referred to.
In Drawing 2 additional particulars are shown,, which will enable
the manner in which the whole apparatus acts to be more clearly
comprehended. The ordinary condenser of the steam vessel is connected
with the suction tube. S. by the apparatus Z, Z, which supplies the place
of the air pump. in common use and establishes a complete vacuum.
The vacuum, the establishment of which is essential to the proper
action of the apparatus, is produced by the removal of any water which
has not been returned to the boiler by the feed pump, as well as by
getting rid of any steam that may remain uncondensed. The action of
the whole apparatus is, in fact, precisely analagous to that of the well-
known and extensively used Giffard's injector. This Drawing shows a
plan and section, and the letters which correspond with those on each
of the three Drawings indicate corresponding parts of the machinery.

page_text: Having shown the connection of the apparatus Z with the suction
tube S it remains to show the manner in which it is put into communi-
cation with the condenser. This is rendered perfectly clear on referring
to Drawing 3, in which only those parts of the engine and machinery
are shown which are necessary to the present purpose. The condenser
is represented by the letter O. The condensing tube is shown by B, B,
into which the cold water is drawn by the centrifugal force developed
by the propeller, thus effecting the condensation of the steam coming
from the cylinder S. The exhausting pipe is represented by P. At a
short distance from its junction with the condenser it bifurcates into
the branches P1, P2, which lead into the suction pipe S. This junction
is better shown on a larger scale in Drawing 2, in which the points
of connection are indicated by E, E. A valve v is fixed on the
exhausting pipe to prevent the water returning into the condenser when
the propeller is not in motion.
A few words will suffice to explain the action of the apparatus,
which is very simple. By the rotation of the screw a centrifugal force
is developed, which drives the water from the tubes c, c, and causes a
vacuum in the chamber A, A. This vacuum is in its turn supplied by
the water which is drawn from the condenser by means of the suction
pipe S.
The practical advantage of this Invention is of a twofold character.
In the first place it utilises a power which has hitherto remained
undeveloped and turned to no account whatever; and, in the second,
it obviates all necessity for the employment of the usual expensive
pumping arrangements.
It has been estimated that the power required to work the ordinary
air pump amounts to as much as fifteen per cent. of the total power of
the engine of the vessel.
As might be anticipated the exhausting effect of the apparatus is
directly proportional to the velocity at which the screw rotates. Experi-
ments have demonstrated most conclusively that the slightest motion of
the screw effects the whole column of water from the chamber to the
condenser. It should be stated that in those cases in which the con-
denser is situated above the water line of the vessel the usual method
of giving it the first supply of water is adopted.
The accompanying Drawings and plans have been prepared for an
engine of 200 nominal horse-power.
$

page_text: Among the many advantages possessed by this Invention are those
of simplification of the machinery now in use, with a corresponding
reduction in cost both of construction and maintenance.
It also should not be lost sight of that the fifteen per cent. of the
engine's power, which under the present arrangement is absorbed in
working the condenser, will by this Invention be rendered available for
the propulsion of the vessel. A greater speed will thus be ensured at a
less cost.
Wherever machinery is employed space is a consideration of the
greatest importance. A large amount of space is saved by this Inven-
tion, as well as fucl, and there is no question that the alteration of the
machinery of present steam vessels to suit this Invention would soon
repay the expenditure incurred.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Philpot in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
PHILPOT, of 21, Great Knight Rider Street, Doctors Commons, E.C.,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Philpot, Her special licence,
that I, the said Henry Philpot, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Philpot, my exccutors, adminis-
trators, 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 "THE APPLICATION AND
UTILIZATION OF THE CENTRIFUGAL FORCE PRODUCED BY THE ROTATION OF A STEAM
SHIP'S SCREW OR PROPELLER FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXHAUSTING THE CONDENSER,
WHEREBY PUMPS AND OTHER APPARATUS ARE AVOIDED," a communication to
him from abroad by John Lucovich, of Trieste, in the Republic of

page_text: France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry
Philpot, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, 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 Henry Philpot, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say:—
This Invention has for its object the application and utilization of the
centrifugal force which is produced by the rotation of a steam ship's
screw or propeller. The Invention utilises this force by applying it to
the purpose of exhausting the condenser in steam vessels, and thus
renders altogether unnecessary the pumps and other apparatus in
present use.
The Invention also includes all the mechanical appliances and special
means by which this utilization of the centrifugal force developed by
the screw is effected. Among these are the peculiar construction of the
screw itself, the shaft, and the manner in which their connection and
attachment to the condenser is accomplished. This is so arranged that
the screw or propeller practically performs all the functions of the
ordinary air pump, and in addition tends to simplify the general
machinery.
A reference to the Drawings will shew at once how the proposed
utilization and application of the force is carried out.
In Drawing I. the letters A, A, represent the shaft of the vessel's
propeller; B, B, shew the stern tube, which is of the usual form and
construction; and C, C, indicate the screw or propeller itself. To the
ordinary box of the propeller is attached a chamber, shewn by the
letters a, a.
Inside the tube are water chambers b, b, which rotate with
the shaft and connect the chamber a, a, with the space r, r. This
spacer, r, is of the usual size and form, and is filled with water when
In connection with the chamber a, a,
the machinery is in working order.
are the channels C, C², C, C³, C, C', which are screwed on the non-acting
surface of the propeller blades, and act as the medium by which the
water is exhausted from the chamber a, a.

page_text: Drawing I. represents a plan and a section of the details referred to
with some additional particulars which will enable the manner in which
the whole apparatus acts to be more clearly comprehended. The
ordinary condenser of the steam vessel is connected with the suction
tube S by the apparatus Z, which supplies the place of the air pump in
The vacuum, the
common use and establishes a complete vacuum.
establishment of which is essential to the proper action of the apparatus,
is produced by the removal of any water which has not been returned
to the boiler by the feed pump, as well as by getting rid of any steam
that may remain uncondensed. The action of the whole apparatus is in
fact precisely analagous to that of the well-known and extensively used
Giffard's injector. This Drawing shews a plan and section, and the
letters which correspond with those on each of the two Drawings
indicate corresponding parts of the machinery.
The
Having shewn the connection of the apparatus Z with the suction
tube S, it remains to shew the manner in which it is put into com-
munication with the condenser. This is rendered perfectly clear on
referring to Drawing II., in which only those parts of the engine and
machinery are shewn which are necessary to the present purposes.
condenser is represented by the letter o; the condensing tube is shewn
by B, B, into which the cold water is drawn by the centrifugal force
developed by the propeller, thus effecting the condensation of the steam
coming from the cylinder S. The exhausting pipe is represented by V,
and it leads into the suction pipe S. A valve v is fixed on the
exhausting pipe to prevent the water returning into the condenser when
the propeller is not in motion.
A few words will suffice to explain the action of the apparatus, which
is very simple. By the rotation of the screw or centrifugal force is
developed which drives the water from the tubes C, C, and causes a
vacuum in the chamber a, a. This vacuum is in its turn supplied
by the water which is drawn from the condenser by means of the suction
pipe S.
The practical advantage of this Invention is of a twofold character.
In the first place it utilises a power which has hitherto remained
undeveloped and turned to no account whatever; and in the second
it obviates all necessity for the employment of the usual expensive
pumping arrangements.

page_text: It has been estimated that the power required to work the the ordinary
air pump amounts to as much as fifteen per cent. of the total power of
the engine of the vessel.
As might be anticipated the exhausting effect of the apparatus is
directly proportional to the velocity at which the screw rotates.
Experiments have demonstrated most conclusively that the slighest
motion of the screw effects the whole column of water, from the
chamber to the condenser. It should be stated that in those cases in
which the condenser is situated above the water line of the vessel the
usual method of giving it the first supply of water is adapted.
The accompanying Drawings and plans have been prepared for an
engine of 200 nominal horse-power.
Among the many advantages possessed by this Invention are those
of simplification of the machinery now in use, with a corresponding
reduction in cost both of construction and maintenance.
It also should not be lost sight of that the 15 per cent. of the engine's
power, which under the present arrangement is absorbed in working
the condenser, will by this Invention be rendered available for the
propulsion of the vessel. A greater speed will thus be insured at a
less cost.
Whenever machinery is employed space is a consideration of the
greatest importance. A large amount of space is saved by this Invention
as well as fuel, and there is no question that the alteration of the
machinery of present steam vessels to suit this Invention would soon
repay the expenditure incurred.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Philpot, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Signed, sealed, and delivered in
the presence of
RICHARD ALFRED LEMAITRE,
Solicitor's Clerk,
Doctors Commons.
HENRY PHILPOT. (L.S.)